There have been 2 questions posted to the list about the NAAL health
literacy stimulus materials (those materials given to the survey
respondents). The directive for all NAAL materials was that they be
everyday materials. We did not alter the materials, i.e. redesign them
to make them easier to read or eliminate jargon, because the intent was
to find how people could deal with materials they are likely to
encounter today. But, we did not exclude easier materials, and Mark may
be able to address the grading system used to score the materials in
terms of level of difficulty. It was important to select a range of
health materials representing different types of information. We
developed a scheme that identified the materials as one of the 3 types:
prevention, clinical or navigation. We did this so we wouldn't end up
with all the materials focused on healthcare settings or conversely all
materials focused on public health messages. One final criteria we used
was that materials had to be relevant to a wide age range and both
genders, so, for example, we wouldn't choose a piece about breast
cancer, which would have possibly introduced a knowledge bias in favor
of women. 

	Cynthia       

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