This chapter explores the relationship between literacy and health disparities, focusing on the concept of health literacy. Recommendations are provided for ways to bridge the health literacy gap for learners in adult basic education and family literacy programs.

Building health literacy skills among adult learners has the potential to contribute to efforts to eliminate health disparities and improve health outcomes. Adults with limited literacy skills are more likely to be underserved by health services and at risk for poorer health. Recognition of the need for stronger health literacy skills and a desire…

When people are ill, they want to know what is happening to them and how they can get better. Current health policies support patients' access to health information and encourage them to take part in decisions regarding their health. But little is known about how patients learn and the difficulties they may encounter in the process. This paper…

Background: This paper discusses the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention's effort to develop a web-based service called Project CREATE that responds to a need for targeted health promotion materials expressed by directors of HIV/STD prevention services in predominately rural states. Purpose: Project CREATE allows users to select customized…

This qualitative study has as its focus an exploration of health service providers' perceptions and experiences of the processes and implications of delivering workplace cultural diversity education for staff. Data were obtained from conducting in-depth individual and focus group interviews with a purposeful sample of 137 healthcare professionals,…

In remote Indigenous communities in Australia there are minimal labour market opportunities, with the majority of jobs under the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP), and limited education and training services. Yet Indigenous communities are under increasing pressure from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)…