The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) hosted an interactive presentation about the Health Literacy Component (HLC) of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). To learn more about the 2003 NAAL, visit this link http://nces.ed.gov/naal/design/about02.asp. The NAAL HLC is the first-ever national assessment designed specifically to measure health literacy. The presentation targeted for research community, will highlight key design features, new types of data, and data uses.

Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the 2003 NAAL assesses the literacy skills of a nationally representative sample of about 18,000 American adults. Data collection has been completed, and results will be released in summer 2005. The NAAL HLC provides a separate health literacy score, based solely on health-related tasks. The health literacy score will be compared with (1) NAAL's extensive data on background variables, (2) performance on NAAL's general literacy tasks, and (3) performance on a NAAL instrument that focuses on basic reading skills. The 2003 HLC data will provide a baseline for future assessments.

NAAL's general literacy tasks emphasize the use of everyday printed materials to function in one's environment. The health-related tasks used for the HLC focus on the following key aspect of health literacy:

The ability to use printed and written information associated with a broad range of health-related tasks to accomplish one's goals at home, in the workplace, and in the community (including health care settings)

Developed in response to a request by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HLC is designed to provide input for achieving Healthy People 2010's goal of improving health literacy. HLC data can help guide development of (1) programs to address deficiencies in health literacy and (2) written health information tailored to the literacy strengths and weaknesses of target audiences.

August 3, 2004 Webcast Agenda

• NAAL Health Literacy Component (HLC) background, definitions, and limitations
• Task types and skill requirements
• Health-related items and stimulus materials
• Health-related background questions
• Analysis of health literacy data
• Summary of unique features of the NAAL HLC
• Contribution of the NAAL HLC to written health communication
• NCES contacts and website
• References
• Q & A

Transcript (Word format)

This special webcast presentation of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Health Literacy Component (HLC) is sponsored by The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL).

More about the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy and links to other NAAL Webcasts.