Valerie and Everyone,

Yes, I encourage anyone out there who relies on, or is familiar with, alternative formats for information exhange to add your input to the discussion next week! The point is to make communication more effective for everyone. Period. And as we always find, communication and information that is simpler and available in a wider variety of formats ends up being better for all of us anyway, not just those with low literacy skills or disabilities. 

Thanks for the reminder,
Julie

P.S. For more information about next week's discussion, please go to:
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/healthliteracy/07healthcommunication.h
tml


Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org


>>> "Valerie Lewis" <vlewis at suffolk.lib.ny.us> 10/11/07 9:05 AM >>>

Good morning to all, 

I hope this upcoming discussion will include and possibly introduce the
notion of "accessible" health literacy skills. 

I have reviewed videos, pamphlets and other materials that are designed to
provide valuable, life saving information, yet videos are not produced with
captioning for people who have hearing loss. The pamphlets are not available
in alternative formats and many of the websites are not designed in a way
that is understandable to a person who may have a learning disability or a
cognitive impairment. 

This upcoming discussion seems like it would be an ideal place to
incorporate the importance of providing health information in formats that
can be accessed by a person with a disability. 

It is imperative that we educate future professionals on communication
skills that will enable them to interact with a person who not only has low
literacy issues, but who may have a disability, as well. The patient may
have not developed literacy skills and additionally may be visually impaired
and unable to read the medication or symptom information. A person may have
low literacy issues and not be able read the doctor's lips while the doctor
is facing the wall while talking to the patient. The patient may have low
literacy issues and not be able to unscramble the letters of their booklet
that tells them all about breast cancer. 

People with disabilities have literacy issues, too. 

Valerie

"I will die trying to make a world that I can actually live in" 


Valerie Lewis
Director, LI Talking Book Library
Administrator of Outreach Services 
Suffolk Cooperative Library System
P.O. Box 9000
Bellport, NY 11713-9000
Phone: (631)286-1600, X1365
FAX:   (631)286-1647
vlewis at suffolk.lib.ny.us



-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Julie McKinney
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:59 AM
To: healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1326] Panel Discussion on Communication
BetweenPatients and Providers: Oct 15-22

Hi Everyone,

I am very pleased to announce a panel discussion next week on this list! In
honor of Health Literacy Month, we will host this discussion on
communication between patients and health care providers. The panel will
include adult learners, literacy teachers, health care providers, and a
health educator. They will discuss the challenges and supports to
communicating with health care providers for adults with lower literacy
skills.

The learners will talk about their experiences communicating with health
care providers during appointments, and what kinds of things make it easier
or harder to learn the health information that is conveyed; teachers will
talk about how they might be able to support their students in preparing
them for confident and effective health communication; and health care
providers and educators can listen to this and discuss how they can adjust
their communication style to make it easier and more effective for their
lower literacy patients. In the course of this discussion, we will address
how literacy teachers and programs can collaborate with health care
providers and educators in order to support better communication.

Discussion Preparation:

There is no reading to prepare for this discussion, but I do want everyone
to think about their own personal experiences in communicating with their
doctor, or a technician or specialist. For health care providers and
educators, also think about your experiences communicating with patients who
may have lower literacy and English speaking skills. For teachers, think
about how you can play a role in helping students to communicate more
effectively. For administrative health people, think about the systems in
your center that can help or hinder effective communication of health
information. Please think about oral and written communication, what makes
them more effective, and what makes them fall flat.

For more infomration, including guest biographies, please go to:
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/healthliteracy/07healthcommunication.h
tml

Please forward this message to colleagues who you think may be interested in
this discussion! (Subscription info is available at the link above.)

All the best,
Julie


Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org

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