Hi Laura,

Kudos to you and your ESL students for making this excellent photonovella. I 
was so intrigued that I watched, read, and listened to every word. Great 
job!

This is a wonderful example of communicating in whatever ways work -- a 
necessary health literacy skill, indeed.

Best,
~Helen

Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L
Health Literacy Consulting & Health Literacy Month
www.healthliteracy.com & www.healthliteracymonth.org
helen at healthliteracy.com & 508-653-1199
Speaker, Author, Plain Language Writer & Editor
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Laura Nimmon" <LN at uvic.ca>
To: <HealthLiteracy at nifl.gov>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 5:23 PM
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1593] Photonovels



>I am recently new to this great site and the recent discussion on

> photonovels caught my attention.

> My MA study in Language and Literacy Education at the University of

> Victoria, Canada, focused on appropriate ways to educate ESL-speaking

> immigrant women about health information.  The immigrant women in my study

> created a participatory photonovel focusing on their struggles with

> nutrition upon migrating to Canada. I found that having the women as

> active participants in creating a health literacy material was very

> empowering for them.  The process built community amongst the women and

> gave them a voice in their new country.

> Creating a photonovel is very user-friendly and economical.  All you need

> is a digital camera, lap top and a comic producing program that costs 40

> dollars.  They also look great. Furthermore, because they are created by

> participants, they become a comprehensible health literacy tool for a

> similar linguistic population.

> I won a National Population and Public Health Student Research Award for

> study (2006) and my findings were published in the Canadian Journal of

> Public Health (July/August 2007).

> To see the photonovel go to my website at www.photonovel.ca (View: From

> Junk Food to Healthy Eating: Tanya's Journey to a Better Life)

> Also, Rima Rudd at Harvard University has previously been active in

> creating photonovels as a health literacy tool.

> Rudd, Comings [1994]. Learner Developed Materials: An Empowering Product,

> Health Education Quarterly, 21(3):33-47

> I have found her work around learner developed health literacy materials

> to be very informative.

> Laura Nimmon-MA

> Canada

>

> --

> Laura Nimmon, MA

> www.photonovel.ca

>

>

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