Just coming off of a health literacy summit here in Wisconsin, this has 
been at the forefront of many people's minds as we start thinking about 
partnerships to move forward on various initiatives.

One of my colleagues talked about looking at it in a way I had not 
considered before:  instead of literacy and communication skills being 
the end-result, they could be tools to reach the goal.  So say your goal 
for a project is to help XX population have better prevention of YY 
disease.  Achieving better literacy  and communication through a 
partnership with a literacy organization could be one of the strategies 
that is used to help achieve the goal.  The focus could be on skills 
that are pertinent to disease prevention -- understanding how to read 
directions, how to use the phone to make an appointment, how a grocery 
store is laid out so that the foods that are nutritious are found and 
foods that should be avoided can be, etc.  It would be a very engaging 
way to teach the various life skills, vocabulary, and so on that are 
part of everyday life and are transferable to disease prevention.

Has anyone had a partnership like this with a health care provider?

Melissa
---
Melissa Cooley
Regional Literacy Consultant, SW/SC Wisconsin
Wisconsin Literacy

(608) 244-3911, ext. 21
melissa at wisconsinliteracy.org
www.wisconsinliteracy.org

"One mission.  One voice.  A more literate Wisconsin."
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