On The Quick
Health Info for Low-Literacy Parents
Helpful book series written by nurses
The Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) has just released a new book to help low-literacy parents deal with a variety of teen health issues. The book, entitled What to Do for Your Teen’s Health, covers some of the most common and important questions from parents, including lifestyle and health issues like tattoos, alcohol, bullying and gangs.
Authored by Gloria Mayer, RN, and Ann Kuklierus, RN, What to Do for Your Teen’s Health is the latest in the IHA’s best-selling What to Do for Health series. Other titles in the series include When You’re Having a Baby, What to Do for Senior Health and What to Do When Your Child Is Heavy.
The Literacy Gap
According to the IHA, only 12 percent of the U.S. adult population has a “proficient” level of health literacy and most available materials regarding health are written for at least a ninth-grade reading level even though many Americans read at no more than a fifth-grade level.
That gap, says the institute, makes it difficult for low-literacy adults to understand important health information, which is particularly dangerous for a parent responsible for the health of a child.
The What to Do for Health series is intended to address that gap. With large print and conversational vocabulary using simple, single-syllable words, the books are designed to be easy for readers to understand and use.
Most books are available in Spanish as well as English and some titles are also available in Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese.
While the IHA markets the books primarily to healthcare organizations and parent groups, copies are also available to individual families in print or electronic formats. Books are $12.95 each and discounts are available for bulk orders. You can find out more at www.iha4health.org or by calling (800) 434-4633.
This article is from workingnurse.com.