scholarly journals Measuring the health literacy of the Upper Midwest

2017 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin J. Bakker, MLIS ◽  
Jonathan B. Koffel, MSI ◽  
Nicole R. Theis-Mahon, MLIS
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Upper Midwest ◽  
The Individual

Objectives: Health literacy—the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information—is a major determinant of an individual’s overall health and health care utilization. In this project, the authors examined predictors of health literacy levels, including numeracy and graphic literacy, among an adult population in the Upper Midwest.Methods: The research was conducted at the Minnesota State Fair. Three previously validated scales were used to assess health literacy: Newest Vital Sign, the General Health Numeracy Test, and questions from Galesic and Garcia-Retamero’s Graph Literacy Scale. Demographic information—such as age, educational attainment, zip code, and other potential predictors and modifiers—was collected. Multivariate linear regression was conducted to examine the independent effects of educational attainment, race, ethnicity, gender, and rural or urban location on overall health literacy and scores on each of the individual instruments.Results: A total of 353 Upper Midwest residents completed the survey, with the majority being white, college-educated, and from an urban area. Having a graduate or professional degree or being under the age of 21 were associated with increased health literacy scores, while having a high school diploma or some high school education, being Asian American, or being American Indian/Alaska Native were associated with lower health literacy scores.Conclusion: Advanced health literacy skills, including the ability to calculate and compare information, were problematic even in well-educated populations. Understanding numerical and graphical information was found to be particularly difficult, and more research is needed to understand these deficits and how best to address them.

scholarly journals Sex differences in beliefs and attitudes towards mental illness: An examination of mental health literacy in a community sample

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray J Gibbons ◽  
Einar B Thorsteinsson ◽  
Natasha M Loi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Australian Sample ◽  
The Individual

Objectives: The current study investigated mental health literacy in an Australian sample to examine the influence sex has in the identification of and attitudes towards various aspects of mental illness. Method: An online questionnaire was completed by 373 participants (267 female, M = 34.87). Participants were randomly assigned a vignette depicting an individual exhibiting the symptoms of one of three types of mental illness and asked to answer questions relating to aspects of mental health literacy. Results: Males exhibited poorer mental health literacy skills compared to females. Males were less likely to correctly identify the type of mental illness, more likely to rate symptoms as less serious and to perceive the individual as having greater personal control over such symptoms. Conclusion: Generally, the sample was relatively proficient at correctly identifying mental illness but overall males displayed poorer mental health literacy skills than females.

scholarly journals Effects of health literacy skills, educational attainment, and level of melanoma risk on responses to personalized genomic testing

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Kaphingst ◽  
Erva Khan ◽  
Kirsten Meyer White ◽  
Andrew Sussman ◽  
Dolores Guest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Genomic Testing ◽  
Melanoma Risk

scholarly journals Information Horizons Mapping is Related to Other Measures of Health Literacy but Not Information Literacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-173
Author(s):  
Eugenia Opuda
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Weak Relationship ◽  
Information Horizons

A Review of: Zimmerman, M.S. (2020). Mapping literacies: Comparing information horizons mapping to measures of information and health literacy. Journal of Documentation, 76(2), 531–551. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2019-0090 Abstract Objective – To evaluate information horizons mapping as a valid measure for assessing information literacy and health literacy compared to three validated information and health literacy measurements and level of educational attainment. Design – Quantitative data analysis using multiple regression and the Anker, Reinhart, and Feeley model as the conceptual framework. Setting – A small university-centered community in Iowa City. Subjects – 149 members of the university community. Methods – The author conducted a power analysis to determine a minimum sample size required for maintaining study validity and selected the Anker Model of conceptual framing for health information-seeking behavior. This is a three-phased model that explores the information seeker’s predisposing characteristics, engagement in health information seeking, and outcomes associated with information seeking. Recruited participants completed three assessments—the Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (TRAILS), the Health Literacy Skills Instrument (HLSI), and the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS)—and drew information horizon maps illustrating what sources of information they tend to seek for health-related questions. The author calculated information horizon map results using a scoring system incorporating the number and quality of information sources identified in the maps and applied multiple linear regression analysis and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to participants’ scores from all four assessments as well as their level of educational attainment to determine strengths of relationships between variables. Main Results – In the information horizons map results, participants identified an average of 6.9 information sources with a range of 3–13 and received an average score of 18.8 in information source quality with a range of 4–45. The author applied multiple linear regression to predict the number of information source counts on the information horizons map based on HLSI, TRAILS, and BHLS assessment scores and level of educational attainment and found a significant relationship (p=0.044). A significant relationship also existed between quality of source scores on the map based on HLSI, TRAILS, and BHLS assessment scores and level of educational attainment (p=0.033). Removing the educational attainment variable produced an even stronger significant result. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient supported the findings of the multiple regression analysis and revealed a strong relationship between source count and scores on the BHLS (r=0.87) and HLSI (r=71) but a weak relationship between source counts and TRAILS score and level of educational attainment. Source quality had a weak relationship with BHLS scores (r=0.24), a moderate relationship with the HLSI scores (r=0.50), and a weak relationship with TRAILS scores and educational attainment. Conclusions – The data analysis suggests a significant relationship between information horizons mapping and health literacy but not information literacy or level of educational attainment. This data supports findings from the author’s previous research examining the relationship between information horizon maps and information literacy scores for refugee and immigrant women. It also suggests that information horizons mapping may facilitate storytelling that reflects the complexity of participants’ health literacy ability and may introduce the potential to assess low-literacy level populations. More research is needed to examine the quality and complexity produced in information horizons maps. This methodology may be applied to investigate better techniques for assessing the health literacy levels among populations that struggle with prose-based assessments.

scholarly journals Readability and Comprehension of Printed Patient Education Materials

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pálma Szabó ◽  
Éva Bíró ◽  
Karolina Kósa
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Patient Education ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Good Health ◽  
School Level ◽  
High School Level ◽  
Healthcare Students

Background: Health literacy, a recently determined construct plays an important role in how individuals are able to manage their health. A useful approach for the assessment of health literacy is to measure the comprehension of available patient education materials (PEMs).Objective: We aimed at assessing the usefulness of PEMS available in Hungarian by testing comprehension of selected PEMs in different groups of users.Methods: Comprehension of patient education materials in the domain of healthcare was tested by selecting PEMs and creating questions based on their text in 3 dimensions of health literacy: understand, process/appraise, apply/use. Twenty questions were created that could be answered without pre-existing knowledge by reading the appropriate text taken from PEMs. Comprehension was examined in four groups: laypersons, non-professional healthcare workers, 1st year healthcare students, and 5th year medical students. Readability indices were calculated for the same texts to which questions were created.Results: Laypersons answered <50% of the PEMs-based questions correctly. Non-professional healthcare workers performed better with 57% of right answers but significantly worse than healthcare students or medical students. Those with at least high school qualification (maturity exam) showed significantly higher comprehension compared to those with lower educational attainment. Persons in good or very good health also had significantly better comprehension than those in less favorable health. All readability indices showed that comprehension of the tested PEMs required at least 10 years of schooling or more. Therefore, these PEMS are difficult to understand for persons with less than high school level of education.Conclusion: Rephrasing of the investigated patient educational materials would be recommended so that they better fit the educational attainment of the Hungarian population. Evaluation of the readability and comprehensibility of other PEMs also seems warranted.

scholarly journals Sex differences in beliefs and attitudes towards mental illness: An examination of mental health literacy in a community sample

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray J Gibbons ◽  
Einar B Thorsteinsson ◽  
Natasha M Loi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Australian Sample ◽  
The Individual

Objectives: The current study investigated mental health literacy in an Australian sample to examine the influence sex has in the identification of and attitudes towards various aspects of mental illness. Method: An online questionnaire was completed by 373 participants (267 female, M = 34.87). Participants were randomly assigned a vignette depicting an individual exhibiting the symptoms of one of three types of mental illness and asked to answer questions relating to aspects of mental health literacy. Results: Males exhibited poorer mental health literacy skills compared to females. Males were less likely to correctly identify the type of mental illness, more likely to rate symptoms as less serious and to perceive the individual as having greater personal control over such symptoms. Conclusion: Generally, the sample was relatively proficient at correctly identifying mental illness but overall males displayed poorer mental health literacy skills than females.

Choosing to be the Hero, the Joker, the Villain: An Interview with Arthur Dong

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Oliver Wang
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Short Film ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
West Hollywood

Oliver Wang interviews documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong. Originally from San Francisco, Dong began his career as a student filmmaker in the 1970s before releasing the Oscar-nominated short film, Sewing Woman in 1982. Since then, his films have focused on the role of Chinese and Asian Americans in entertainment industries as well as on anti-LGBQ discrimination. In the interview, Wang and Dong discuss Dong's beginnings as a high school filmmaker, his decision to turn the story of his seamstress mother into Sewing Woman, his struggle to bring together the Asian American and queer film communities and his recent experience in staging a “Hollywood Chinese” exhibit inside a renovated bar in West Hollywood.

Navigating the health care system: perceptions of patients with chronic pain

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 162-168
Author(s):  
AL Dewar ◽  
K Gregg ◽  
MI White ◽  
J Lander
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Treatment Compliance ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Care System

A new framework is needed for patients with chronic pain and their primary care physicians that acknowledges the individual’s experiences and provides evidence-informed education and better linkages to community-based resources. This study describes the experience of 19 chronic-pain sufferers who seek relief via the health care system. Their experiences were recorded through in-depth semistructured interviews and analyzed through qualitative methods. The participants reported early optimism, then disillusionment, and finally acceptance of living with chronic pain. Both individuals with chronic pain and their health care professionals need evidence-informed resources and information on best practices to assist them to manage pain. Empathetic communication between health care professionals and individuals with chronic pain is crucial because insensitive communication negatively affects the individual, reduces treatment compliance and increases health care utilization.

Distressed Asian American Neighborhoods

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Douglas Miller ◽  
Douglas Houston
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Ethnic Enclave ◽  
Racially Diverse ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Socioeconomic Data

There is a serious lack of demographic and socioeconomic data about Asian Americans living in distressed areas. The approach suggested to address this problem is community development with professional and academics to provide updated information on many issues such as poverty, educational attainment pertinent to these disadvantaged AA communities. The article discusses the selection criteria employed to choose the fourteen distressed communities that is analyzed. Details describing demographic characteristics, such as most AA communities are racially diverse, are supplemented with statistics to provide concrete data. Unemployment and poverty go hand-in-hand and in distressed AA communities these problems are occurring in higher frequency than other communities. The typical depiction of an AA community as a rich ethnic-enclave is debunked. The dominant problems in these communities are also representative of the problems most immigrants face today. The motivation for this analysis is to compel policy-makers to develop further research into these communities to understand their problems in order to make policies effectively addressing their needs.

Asian American Dropouts: A Case Study of Vietnamese and Chinese High School Students in a New England Urban School District

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phitsamay Uy
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
New England ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Dropout Rates ◽  
School Students ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Asian American Student ◽  
K 12

In the world of K–12 education, the growing numbers of dropouts are a major concern. This article examines the dropout rates of Chinese and Vietnamese high school students. Using logistic regression analysis, this article examines the influence of ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) on dropout rates. The distinct contribution of this analysis lies within the intraethnic comparisons within the Asian American student population and its use of longitudinal data. The results of the study support existing research that gender and SES are related to dropout rates. Moreover, an interesting interaction between ethnicity and SES exists.

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