Health literacy among young adults: a short survey tool for public health and health promotion research

Health literacy (HL) is context-specific. In public health and health promotion, HL in the private realm refers to individuals' knowledge and skills to prevent disease and to promote health in everyday life. However, there is a scarcity of measurement tools explicitly geared to private realm contexts. Our aim was to develop and test a short survey tool that captures different dimensions of HL in the context of family and friends. We used cross-sectional data from the Swiss Federal Surveys of Adolescents from 2010 to 2011, comprising 7983 males and 366 females between 18 and 25 years. HL was assessed through a set of eight items (self-reports). We used principal component analysis to explore the underlying factor structure among these items in the male sample and confirmatory factor analysis to verify the factor structure in the female sample. The results showed that the tested item set represented dimensions of functional, interactive and critical HL. Two sub-dimensions, understanding versus finding health-relevant information, denoted functional HL. Interactive and critical HL were each represented with two items. A sum score based on all eight items (Cronbach's α: 0.64) showed expected positive associations with own and parental education among males and females (p < 0.05). The short item set appears to be a feasible measurement tool to assess HL in the private realm. Its broader application in survey studies may help to improve our understanding of how this form of HL is distributed in the general population.

Literacy skills of adults with intellectual disability in community-based day programs

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. There is limited information available related to the literacy skills of adults with intellectual disabilities. In this project, information was collected about the contexts, current practices, and clients' abilities in literacy in two community-based disability service programs. Individual assessments were undertaken to collect details of the current literacy levels of adults with intellectual disabilities in day program settings. These assessments focused on receptive language, reading at the letter, word and sentence level, writing vocabulary and connected text, and literacy preferences. Audits were also conducted related to the provision of opportunities for clients accessing these services to engage with literacy including environmental print. Structured day program activities were observed to gather information about current literacy teaching and learning. Implications of the research findings and suggestions for provision of literacy education in these settings are discusse

Economic competence and financial literacy of young adults. Status and challenges

This book will concentrate on economic competence and financial literacy of young adults in the US, Europe and South America. The subjects of the research are mainly individuals who have begun an apprenticeship or university education. Economic competence and financial literacy are of special interest for this group because they are usually in the unique position of being responsible for managing their own financial affairs autonomously, often for the first time. Furthermore, economic competence is key to social participation and active citizenship. (DIPF/Orig.)

PANA V : Evaluation of a Literacy Project

PANA V Evaluation of a Literacy ProjectSUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSThis evaluation set out to explore the impact of the literacy work carried out through PANA V. It focussed on clarifying effects such as empowerment and poverty reduction in relation to the civil society. Two specific objectives were to evaluate the methodological approach and the didactic materials and to evaluate the sustainability of the project.Although the focus of the evaluation has been PANA V, the project has been evaluated in its context, as one in a series of five projects located in Rwanda ten years after the war and genocide. The conclusion will consider future plans in this field.The evaluator has striven to create a holistic picture of the effects of the project, although the given time for the evaluation was short. Only three weeks were spent in the field study and only ten days in the actual field. Although there were some organisational and logistic problems, as is common when carrying out a study like this in a poor country, many literacy sites were visited and quite many participators were interviewed. The overall impression from the study is overwhelmingly positive. So many people commit themselves in this task of teaching Rwandans reading, writing and numeracy. Despite harsh conditions learners strive to learn and group leaders devote themselves to the task. Many leaders on different levels try their very best to manage their difficult and demanding task. The main objective was to explore the impact of the project on poverty reduction, particularly on empowerment and strategies for everyday life. Women were to be regarded particularly. From the results it is clear that the project has a strong, positive impact both on poverty reduction and empowerment of marginalised groups. Among those who have benefited from the alphabetisation are mainly women. Unfortunately, when it comes to leaders in PANA, who may also be said to have benefited from the project, only a small minority is women. This is something that is recommended that it be reconsidered inside the organisation. As a majority of the targeted learners are women, and as the economic and social situation of women in Rwanda is generally weak, this is a question that I recommend the Pentesostal church and ADEPR to look particularly into. With many women being single breadwinners of their households, it is important that also women get access to positions that may bring benefits of different kind.It is also clear that the project has positive effects for the civil society. In the present situation in Rwanda, during the process of reconciliation and rapid progress, basic education for the poor majority is a democratic issue. In a country with a plethora of internet-cafés in the capital and a small minority that use cars and mobile-telephones to communicate nation-wide, it is of outmost importance that the majority acquires basic education, of which literacy is a central part. To strengthen the civil society in Rwanda literacy is important. One central issue is then that Rwanda develops toward becoming a country where literacy is used for the benefit of the citizens and it is a democratic issue that all citizens get an opportunity to participate. Crucial for this is that strong efforts are put into primary schools nation-wide. Literacy projects for adults, like PANA, may only complement these efforts, but they constitute important and necessary complements. Other relevant ways to promote literacy are campaigns in Radio and TV and through cultural events such as festivals, music and theatre. News papers, magazines and books are natural parts of such campaigns as well as adult education. As stated under the results not much can be said about the didactics in this evaluation. On the whole the methodology and the materials fill their function well and receive a high reputation. As people learn to read and write under very simple conditions, obviously the approach is appropriate. A few suggestions may be given from the study:•Focus groups leaders’ attention on clearness, that they show very clearly what is to be read. Good structuring is probably of great importance for many learners.•Make clear what is tested in the tests and consider the possibility to use a holistic test that would be more congruent with the methodology. The possibility to use only one grade, pass, would enable a more practical test, such as reading a short, relevant text, writing something relevant and solving practical mathematic problems. Avoid tests that demand school knowledge.•Avoid using methaphors such as “fight against illiteracy” and connections between illiteracy/literacy and darkness/light. It is not true that illiteracy causes bad things and that literacy only brings good. •Be prepared that it may be more difficult in the future to achieve the goals as it may be the case that the early learners where the ones who achieved easily. The goal of “literacy in six month” in PANA will probably hold only for some learners but also those who do not manage in six months need literacy skills.A third objective was to secure sustainability. As for sustainability of the project in itself, and of the literacy process, the main conclusion is that there is a good potential. The commitment and devotedness among many involved in PANA proves good. One weakness is individual leaders in ADEPR who do not see this as an important task for the Pentecostal church in Rwanda. Other weaknesses are the unwillingness to mention explicitly the wish, for example among group leaders, to get some kind of incentive and the fear of loosing believers by cooperation with other organisations. A higher degree of transparency in this issue would probably solve some irritations and tensions.As for the sustainability of the literacy skills much may be done to improve. The acquired skills seem to be comparably relevant. The level achieved, and the level tested, may be defined as basic literacy skills, consisting of basic reading, writing and numeracy skills. However, these skills are very restricted and there is a high risk that the skills will decline, which means that there is a high risk that people will forget how to read and write because of lack of exercising. From these conclusions a few suggestions for future development will be given.

From illiteracy to literacy in adult- hood: A microlongitudinal study

Little is known about literacy acquisition in adults. Yet, our former studies suggest that the majority of the changes induced by literacy in children also occur in adulthood. Based on this observation as well as on what we know from developmental studies on reading acquisition, we designed an intensive literacy course in which each difficulty (either phono- logical or visual) of the alphabetic code is introduced in turn in lessons dedicated to overcoming it. We applied this course for 3 1∕2 months to 9 adult Portuguese illiterates. They were tested five times: two before starting the course (pre-tests), two during the course, and just after they completed the course. We tracked their evolution in reading and writing, metaphonology, memory for spoken nonwords, speech in noise perception, and visual abilities, including mirror-image discrimination. Most participants learned to read and write and showed associated enhancements in several domains, in particular in phonological skills.

A formação do professor alfabetizador em cursos de Pedagogia: contribuições e lacunas teórico-práticas

To the we assume the disciplines of the area of Literacy of the course of Pedagogy, our intention has been the one of working the literacy, the reading and the writing as alive processes, as social practices inserted in the history, continuators of the subjectivity, done in the culture and producing of culture. The importance of the course of Pedagogy in the teachers' formation is unquestionable; however our goal is to highlight, in this work, the paper of that course in the formation of the teacher alphabetized, while mediator of the literacy process with an inclusive vision. In that to walk, it appeared us the following subject: which the contributions and the gaps theoretical-practices - of degree courses in Pedagogy - experienced for the exits of that course, in the specific pedagogic work of alphabetizing children, young adult and/or our study aims at to investigate, under the perspective of teachers alphabetizer licensed in courses of Pedagogy, the contributions and the theoretical-practical gaps of those courses, in the formation of the educator alphabetizer. In this sense, our work if it bases on the presuppositions of the qualitative investigation that leaves of the foundation that there is a dynamic relationship among the real and subjective world, an alive interdependence between subject and object, an entail indissoluble between the objective world and the subjective (CHIZZOTTI, 1998, p.79). The research is characterized as a descriptive and interpretative study and for the collection of data; the questionnaire, the semi-structured interview and the documental analysis were used. We took the following providences for the choice of Locus and of the subject of the research: it visits to the schools; compatibility of the criteria previously defined for choice of Locus and of the Subjects. For the choice of those schools, we defined the following criteria: that, in your individuality / totality, they were located in integral neighborhoods of, at least three of the four administrative areas of the city of Natal; that, in your individuality / totality, they contemplated the public spheres and private of attendance; that, in the year of accomplishment of the research - 2004 - they were offering infantile education and/or fundamental teaching; this last one gone back to the children of the initial years and/or for the youth and adult of the first levels of the modality of EJA; and that made possible the researcher's access. Front to the particularities of our study object and considering the criteria of choice of the locus, four public schools and three private schools were selected. Like this being, in those schools, we would look for the subject of our work that they would owe: 1) to be working, in 2004, with children's literacy, youths or adults: they as teacher (the), it as coordinator (the) that guides teachers alphabetizer, in public schools or peculiar of the city of the Natal-RN; 2) to be exit (the) of the degree course in Pedagogy, supplied by institutions of superior level (public or matters) of the city of the Natal-RN; 3) to have concluded your course of Pedagogy in the period of 1990-2004; 4) to have, at least, 01(one) year of experience in literacy rooms (TARDIF, 2002). The subjects interviewees concluded your courses of Pedagogy, in the period from 1990 to 2004, in institutions different from the city of Natal/RN, being five to the whole: two public IES and three deprived IES. Of the analysis of the data, the theme emerged, ' teacher's Alphabetizer Educational Formation in Courses of Pedagogy', with the following categories: contributions of the courses of Pedagogy; More important disciplines in the educational formation; Areas / Aspects lacunars of the courses of Pedagogy. The pedagogic practice of the teacher alphabetizer demands a formation from him found in you know educational, requested in the children's literacy, youths and adults. In that work, we defended the thesis that the course of Pedagogy is the locus, par excellence, for that formation, in spite of possible structural limitations and curricular of the referred course. In spite of the countless contributions of the pedagogy course for the formation of the teacher alphabetizer, our data appear for the need of a revision of the proposals curricular of that course, getting the attention for the importance of a proposal formation curricular more gone back to the literacy process / literate and for the social inclusion. We thought that, although insufficient, the teacher's formation in that perspective is a fundamental condition for a practice pedagogic alphabetizer to be promoted, in fact, inclusive and promoter of the school success

As grafias não convencionais da coda silábica nasal: análise de dados de EJA

Este artigo trata das grafias não convencionais da sílaba com coda nasal encontradas em textos escritos por jovens e adultos. Para a descrição desses dados de escrita, são consideradas duas complexidades: (i) a fonético-fonológica da sílaba, particularmente do elemento nasal em coda, e (ii) a da representação ortográfica da nasalidade em português. Sob o aspecto fonético, a coda corresponde a uma redução de energia, o que pode tornar os segmentos que preenchem essa posição da sílaba menos audíveis. Sob o aspecto fonológico, a coda pode ser vista como um constituinte não imediato da sílaba cujo preenchimento sofre restrições. Sob o aspecto ortográfico, são três as possibilidades de registro da nasalidade: , como, respectivamente, em campo, canto, maçã. Argumenta-se que as grafias não convencionais analisadas podem ser motivadas pelas características fonético-fonológicas dos enunciados falados (particularmente, da sílaba com coda nasal) e, também, pelas características das convenções ortográficas dos enunciados escritos (especificamente, as convenções para representação da nasalidade da coda). Defende-se que essas grafias não sejam vistas como erros decorrentes da interferência da fala na escrita, mas como pistas da relação constitutiva dos enunciados falados e escritos.

História oral, memória e representações sociais: diálogos com a educação de pessoas adultas

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Accommodating special needs users in the evaluation of an m-Learning application:a case study

Adult illiteracy rates are alarmingly high worldwide. The portability, affordability, and ease of use of mobile (or handheld) devices offer a realistic opportunity to provide novel, context-sensitive literacy resources to adults with limited literacy skills. To this end, we developed the concept of ALEX – a mobile Adult Literacy support application for EXperiential learning (Lumsden et al., 2005). On the basis of a medium-fidelity prototype of this application, we conducted an evaluation of ALEX using participants from our in tended user group. This evaluation had two goals: (a) to assess the usefulness of the ALEX concept and the usability of its current design; and (b) to reflect on the appropriateness of our evaluation process given the literacy-related needs of our participants. This paper outlines our approach to this evaluation as well as the results we obtained and our reflections on the process.

`As intermitencias da morte`: debate concerning the right to lusophone literature in the youngers and adults` literacy process.

The article discusses the right to lusophone literature - Saramago, as example - in the process of teacher` s formation and inside of adults` literacy through formation research process at Sao Paulo city.

Performance of a Brazilian population on the test of functional health literacy in adults

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the scoring obtained by an instrument, which evaluates the ability to read and understand items in the health care setting, according to education and age. METHODS: The short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was administered to 312 healthy participants of different ages and years of schooling. The study was conducted between 2006 and 2007, in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. The test includes actual materials such as pill bottles and appointment slips and measures reading comprehension, assessing the ability to read and correctly pronounce a list of words and understand both prose passages and numerical information. Pearson partial correlations and a multiple regression model were used to verify the association between its scores and education and age. RESULTS: The mean age of the sample was 47.3 years(sd=16.8) and the mean education was 9.7 years(sd=5; range: 1 - 17). A total of 32.4% of the sample showed literacy/numeracy deficits, scoring in the inadequate and marginal functional health literacy ranges. Among the elderly (65 years or older) this rate increased to 51.6%. There was a positive correlation between schooling and scores (r=0.74; p<0.01) and a negative correlation between age and the scores (r=-0.259; p<0.01). The correlation between the scores and age was not significant when the effects of education were held constant (rp=-0.031, p=0.584). A significant association (B=3.877, Beta =0.733; p<0.001) was found between schooling and scores. Age was not a significant predictor in this model (B=-0.035, Beta=-0.22; p=0.584). CONCLUSIONS: The short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was a suitable tool to assess health literacy in the study population. The high number of individuals classified as functional illiterates in this test highlights the importance of special assistance to help them properly understand directions for healthcare.

Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Portuguese-speaking Adults

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a short health literacy assessment tool for Portuguese-speaking adults. METHODS: The Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Portuguese-speaking Adults is an assessment tool which consists of 50 items that assess an individual's ability to correctly pronounce and understand common medical terms. We evaluated the instrument's psychometric properties in a convenience sample of 226 Brazilian older adults. Construct validity was assessed by correlating the tool scores with years of schooling, self-reported literacy, and global cognitive functioning. Discrimination validity was assessed by testing the tool's accuracy in detecting inadequate health literacy, defined as failure to fully understand standard medical prescriptions. RESULTS: Moderate to high correlations were found in the assessment of construct validity (Spearman's coefficients ranging from 0.63 to 0.76). The instrument showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.93) and adequate test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.95). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for detection of inadequate health literacy was 0.82. A version consisting of 18 items was tested and showed similar psychometric properties. CONCLUSIONS: The instrument developed showed good validity and reliability in a sample of Brazilian older adults. It can be used in research and clinical settings for screening inadequate health literacy.

The effect of literacy training on the self-concept of moderately mentally handicapped adults

In this single group, pretest/posttest design study the literacy level and self-concept of nine moderately mentally handicapped adults was assessed. The participants in the study were involved in reading lessons using the Ball-Stick-Bird reading system, a brainbased program. No significant differences were found in either literacy level or reading level after intervention. However, there were changes in reading behaviour. These changes occurred in the subskills ofdirectionality, letter-sound correspondence, wordreading, and use of reading materials.