Millions of Americans lack the basic reading and math skills necessary to understand information and instructions about healthcare. The consequences can be serious—harmful drug interactions, incorrect dosing, poor diet, and increased complications from chronic disease. But reaching these adults, most of whom are not enrolled in literacy or health education programs, has been difficult. So in partnership with five New York City hospitals, ALMA developed TV411 Health Smarts While You Wait (HSWYW), a multimedia curriculum package that brings health literacy directly to patients—while they're waiting to see the doctor.

HSWYW is an all-inclusive, hands-on health education kit designed for use by volunteer instructors in hospital waiting rooms. The kit's three main units, available in English, Spanish and Chinese, cover reading a drug label, managing multiple medications, and using a medical journal to keep track of family health information. Two additional units on nutrition are also available, in English and Spanish. A video segment that shows basic health literacy skills at work in a familiar scenario, such as a visit to the drugstore or a trip to the emergency room, introduces each unit, and a magazine with appealing lessons on these skills is distributed free to patients. The kit also contains various aids for demonstrating and practicing health management techniques, including sample pill caddies, dosage cups, and actual over-the-counter medications.

Results at five hospitals indicate that teaching materials in the the kit can help patients improve thier knowledge of health literacy. The interventions are short and easily adapted to the interests and time constraints of patients. And the project's unique delivery system broadens hospitals' educational efforts by enlisting the services of volunteers, be they tutors or college students, and accessing a ready and literally waiting patient population. Critical to the success of HSWYW is a capable volunteer force. Therefore, the kit includes a manual for hospitals and community programs to train their teachers and volunteers to work with low-literate adults. Volunteers are then given a facilitator's guide with step-by-step directions for leading the mini-workshops in small groups or individually.

By teaching the communication, comprehension, and organizational skills essential to successful health management, our ultimate goal is to remove the barriers to proper treatment and prevention faced by undereducated adults. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.

Click here to learn about our results so far with TV411 Health Smarts While You Wait.

To order TV411 Health Smarts While You Wait and / or the supplementary nutrition units, email Edith Love at
ALMA (elove@edc.org).

If you are an ABE teacher, you may be interested in the TV411 Health Smarts Kit, a
more in-depth health literacy program with seven two-hour units for classroom use