Design of a Conceptual Model for the Study of Education, Health, and Communication: Professional Preparation Issues

The purpose of our paper is to focus on the role of communication in health education, including the ways the three concepts of education, health, and communication are related. A traditional approach would be to study the integration of health and education leading to health education. However, a more progressive approach is to study communication in the context of health education in order to investigate the interdisciplinary nature of these triadic concepts. After naming three professional standards documents in preK-16 health education which highlight communication as both a concept and a skill, we will offer our schematic for how education, health, and communication interact to form the potential transdisciplinary concept of health literacy. We believe that health literacy can be explored as an integrative study of language patterns and information formats that is broader than the printed and spoken word. We conclude our paper with a review of current definitions for health literacy, and then share a description and outline of our graduate course called Health Communication and Education

A Descriptive Study of Health Literacy and Social Determinants of Health as Curricula Topics in Medical School Education

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the extent to which health literacy and social determinants of health exist together in medical school curricula, and the attitudes and beliefs of medical school educators toward the relevance of these topics taught in the curriculum. The research used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design of institutions that comprised the Accelerating Change in Medical Education (ACE) Consortium of the American Medical Association. The study population was 36 ACE institutions, but only 11 ACE institutions made up the study sample. Results also showed that five health literacy items were taught as curricula topics in medical school education with 100% (n = 10) of the respondents teaching how to use plain language skills for oral communication. Respondents rated the level at which their institution prioritized instructional methods to explicitly teach social determinants of health as a topic in the medical curriculum with three (27.3%) ranking the priority level as extremely high, seven (63.6%) ranking it as high, and one (9.1%) ranking it as low. Medical educators rated five social determinants of health influencing a person’s health status, with “economic stability” and “social and community context” having the first and second highest mean rankings, respectively. Nine (81.5%) medical educators agreed that health literacy is a social determinant of health (M = 8.73) and a predictor of health status (M = 7.82)

Emergent Literacy Is Foundational to Health Literacy in Children: Interdisciplinary Relationships to Boost Child Health

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and explain interdisciplinary connections between literacy and health for preschool children, preparing them to enter kindergarten with opportunities to develop both functional and interactive health literacy skills. Emergent literacy is foundational to the development of both functional health literacy and interactive health literacy among children. Enriched and healthy environments for children are fostered by their relationships with parents, peers, and professionals who act as literacy influencers when they use print and electronic books to build functional health knowledge coupled with interactive conversations about health. Preschool children who have access to multimodal literacy materials (e.g., print and electronic) and health affordances (e.g., toothbrushes, eyeglasses, hearing aids) will build literacy routines and health habits in tandem. Whole child development is woven from behaviors practiced at consistent times of the day. Emergent literacies that lead to functional and interactive health literacy support child identity and agency through a developmental process. The concepts of executive functioning, information processing, and self-regulation are further realized when children and their literacy influencers practice reading, writing, and speaking about health in various social contexts

Functional Health Literacy, Invented Spellings, and MyPlate Representations of 2nd and 3rd Grade Children Learning about Breakfast Eating and Food Groups in Health Education

PURPOSE: We had three purposes for this study: 1) to introduce 2nd and 3rd grade children to the concepts of breakfast and food groups in the MyPlate nutrition model while using an interactive constructivist approach; 2) to evaluate what foods children ate for breakfast over two days and to assess the visual-textual-lexical representations that they constructed to show their thinking about the MyPlate food model; and 3) to explore functional health literacy and inventive spellings from children who learned about food groups over two class sessions. METHODS: Pre to post student assessments focused on self-reported breakfast eating and ability to represent the MyPlate food model during the learning process. Student thinking about those topics were also elicited by multimodal approaches: oral language (conversations), written language (visual-textual-lexical illustrations), and body language (making nutritious snacks). For the latter, students constructed a snack to eat on both days at school and were encouraged to make the food at home to model nutritious eating behavior. RESULTS: Most children who participated in the lesson ate breakfast either at home or at school. Some students chose to communicate in words and pictures when asked to write about the foods they ate for breakfast. Many students illustrated and labeled food groups by drawing and using inventive spellings about their early understandings of the MyPlate food model. From the first to the second day of instruction, breakfasts with three food groups increased from 3% to 7% but breakfasts with two food groups declined from 55% to 41% due to more children (n = 60) eating breakfasts with only one food group on the second day. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the food items that students ate were not sufficient to produce an adequate nutritional benefit. The constructivist pedagogical approach assisted children with multimodal ways to communicate their understanding, including making two different snacks when planning a breakfast with multiple food groups. Functional health knowledge about a nutritious breakfast made with three food groups should be further aligned with functional health literacy skills of speaking and writing in multimodal ways in order to improve health behaviors. Inventive spellings demonstrated a developmental step in learning a vocabulary in a new domain. Use of written words and pictures reflected a positive way to learn health and nutrition, because children represented their understanding in more than one way. RECOMMENDATIONS: By adding fruit to the breakfasts of children who participated in the lessons, almost one-half of the children would be able to increase their consumption from two food groups to three food groups when consuming an ideal breakfast. Future work should elaborate on the role of interactive health literacy in school and home contexts when children are learning about breakfast eating and food groups. Future integration of the MyPlate food model with the National Health Education Standards can foster new classroom assessments that will support students to practice observable nutrition behaviors that can lead to consistent health habits for personal, family, and school health

Testing the Psychometric Properties of the Habits of Health Scale for Children and Youth

This paper describes the validity testing we performed on one-half of the Habits of Health and Habits of Mind© model to increase research on the daily habits of children and youth and to substantiate the teaching and dissemination of the model with greater confidence. Child and adolescent health habits were tested with a new Habits of Health Scale (HHS). The study purpose was to test the construct and criterion validity of the habits of health measurement subscales which included physical activity, nutrition, relationships, safety, and hygiene behaviors. Two specific hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis was that the HHS items would show acceptable factorial validity. The second hypothesis was the HHS factors would demonstrate high criterion validity, or the sensitivity of the scale to detect differences and associations that theoretically should exist. The HHS factors were expected to differ based on participants’ gender, perceived health status, perceived academic success, Body Mass Index (BMI), and multiple health behaviors. Results showed that each subscale demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and criterion validity. Health patterns and routines of kids can now be measured by the Habits of Health Scale, which is a multi-behavioral assessment tool that assesses the health status of children and youth

Evaluation of an eBook for Oral Health Literacy© to Promote Child Health: Readability, Suitability, Understandability, Actionability, and Gist-Based Message

The purpose of the study was to evaluate an oral health curriculum called an eBook for Oral Health Literacy© to determine its effectiveness for promoting child health. A secondary purpose was to describe and explain the design characteristics of readability, suitability, understandability, and actionability of the 17 chapters of the eBook. A third purpose was to conduct evaluations on verbatim representations (or literal facts) that are presented in the eBook chapters, including the gist representations that are not explicitly presented but inferred by the reader from the chapter information. Results found that the eBook for Oral Health Literacy© had acceptable, and in many cases, favorable scores, for the five design elements of readability, suitability, understandability, actionability, and gist comprehension. Ongoing dissemination of the eBook for Oral Health Literacy© curriculum has the potential to boost children who are “learning to read” and “reading to learn” about oral health hygiene and nutrition. Future studies should use one or more chapters from the curriculum as an intervention to test this educational premise as an explanatory basis for functional health literacy

Application of the results of excavation response experiments at climax and the Colorado School of Mines to the development of an experiment for the underground research laboratory

Large-scale underground experiment programs to examine excavation response have been performed at the Climax facility in Nevada and at the Colorado School of Mines. These two programs provided fundamental information on the behavior of rock and the effects of excavation; on instrument performance and configuration; and on the relationship between test geometry and test behavior. This information is being considered in the development of a major excavation response experiment to be carried out in the Canadian Underground Research Laboratory. 11 refs., 3 figs

One more time: Not just (with) words, but feelings. Commentary on 'Beyond belief'

This article is a commentary on ‘Beyond belief’, by Cromby (2012

A Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (CIA) Framework for Health Literacy Education (HLE) in Medical and Health Professions Schools

There is increasing need to implement Health Literacy Education (HLE) as essential curriculum content in medical and health professions schools, supported by skill-based instructional strategies and authentic assessments. This paper reviews two decades of historical progress in health literacy and advances a new conceptual model to organize Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (CIA) themes for Health Literacy Education (HLE). Three themes are integrated into the Health Literacy Education (HLE) curriculum: 1) interprofessional communication in HLE, 2) cultural and linguistic competencies in HLE, and 3) a language typology that informs HLE. Two pedagogical themes are integrated into HLE instruction: 1) skill-based instructional strategies to improve oral communication (n = 7), and skill-based instructional strategies to improve written communication (n = 3). Skill-based instructional strategies to improve oral communication of medical and health professions students includes use of plain language, use of Teach Back or Show Me, encourage patients to ask questions, use medical interpreters and translators, be an active listener, respond with empathy when breaking bad news to patients, and use Chunks and Checks method. Skill-based instructional strategies to improve written communication of medical and health professions students includes write in plain language, evaluate written materials, and use pictures or visual aids to aid patient understanding. Two themes are integrated into HLE assessments: 1) formative assessment, and 2) summative assessment. The paper promotes the Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Framework for Health Literacy Education (CIA-HLE) for use by faculty in medical and health professions schools to ensure their students are well prepared to use oral and written communication with their patients as guided by selected research studies and initiatives. To further advance interprofessional collaboration and dialogue across the medical and health professions, a language typology and a knowledge typology are provided as building blocks to health literacy education

Parental Influences on Children’s Oral Health Behaviors, Reading Behaviors, and Reading Attitudes Associated with the Sharing of a Digital Story from the eBook for Oral Health Literacy© Curriculum

This study investigated the relationships between parents and their children on oral health behaviors, reading behaviors, reading attitudes, and liking perceptions of one chapter from an eBook curriculum intervention. A Qualtrics platform was used to survey 316 parent-child dyads across the United States before and after the shared reading of one chapter from the eBook for Oral Health Literacy© entitled “Setting Goals for Going to the Dentist”. Participants answered 75 questions about their teeth brushing and flossing behaviors, number of cavities, how often they visited libraries and bookstores, enjoyment of reading, and perceptions (liking) of the words and pictures of the chapter that they read and heard. Statistically significant relationships were found between parents and their children on oral health behaviors (?2 = 49.12, p < 0.001); reading behaviors (?2 = 10.4, p < 0.01), reading attitudes (?2 = 8.773, p < 0.01), and perception (liking) of the eBook chapter that they read and heard (?2 = 113.813, p < 0.01). Results from 301 parent-child dyads point to the importance of social modeling that parents play in the development of their children’s oral health behaviors, reading behaviors, and reading attitudes. Testing of additional chapters from the eBook intervention is warranted