Journal of Health Communication
Volume 19, 2014, Pages 89-105

ESL participation as a mechanism for advancing health literacy in immigrant communities (Article)

Santos M.G.* , Handley M.A. , Omark K. , Schillinger D.
  • a Department of English Language and Literature, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, 94132, United States
  • b Center for Vulnerable Populations, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, United States, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
  • c California Diabetes Program, Sacramento, CA, United States
  • d Center for Vulnerable Populations, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, United States, Division of General Internal Medicine, San Francisco, California, United States, San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

A reliance on the conceptualization of health literacy as functional skill has limited researchers views of the adult English-as-a-second-language (ESL) context as a site for health literacy interventions. To explore the contributions of alternative views of literacy as social practice to health literacy research, the authors examined teacher survey data and learner outcomes data collected as part of a multiyear collaboration involving the California Diabetes Program, university researchers, and adult ESL teachers. The survey results (n = 144 teachers) indicated that ESL teachers frequently model effective pedagogical practices that mediate social interaction around health content, the basis for acquiring new literacy skills and practices. In the classroom pilot (n = 116 learners), the majority of learners reported they had learned about diabetes risk factors and prevention strategies, which affirmed existing healthy behaviors or prompted revision of unhealthy ones. About two thirds of the learners reported sharing preventive health content with members of out-of-school social networks. This study represents a first step in research efforts to account more fully for the mechanisms by which social interaction and social support facilitate health literacy outcomes in ESL contexts, which should complement what is already known about the development of health literacy as functional skill. © 2014 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

education Communication Barriers Interpersonal Relations human communication disorder middle aged statistics and numerical data diabetes mellitus Aged social support human relation Young Adult Humans migrant psychology California male Emigrants and Immigrants female Aged, 80 and over pilot study very elderly program evaluation adult health literacy Pilot Projects Multilingualism Learning
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84908141961&doi=10.1080%2f10810730.2014.934935&partnerID=40&md5=322289af8f3690f5152c3d176d226f8f
DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2014.934935
ISSN: 10810730
Cited by: 6
Original Language: English