Hi everyone,
As we face more confusion for ELLs and the rest of us with the further implementation of the Affordable Care Act, I want to let you know about a few new resources to make health-related instruction easier for ESOL educators. As some of you may know, I've been working on health literacy issues for years, both in ESOL and in health care. I've often wished for a place online for ESOL educators to share what they know about health lit as it relates specifically to their learners, and learn from each other. Since none appeared I decided to brave my social networking jitters and set some up. They are:
- on Twitter: I've started a feed at @healthlitkate. I pass on resources and info I find that relates to limited English proficient populations, healthcare communication, and health instruction for ESOL. Just in case any of you are thinking about Tweeting but aren't sure if you want to go there, I was very Twitter-shy before I started the feed, but I'm finding I really like it as a quick, one-stop location for getting and sharing information. Much handier than I first thought!
- on Facebook: I've started a page called ESOL Health Literacy where educators can share news, resources, and ideas on teaching about health and health care in the US. I just started that page yesterday so we have a respectable 7 likers at this point! I'm sure there's a bit of a learning curve ahead of me for being an FB page administrator, so please bear with me on that score!
Also coming very soon!!! The Virginia Adult ESOL Health Literacy Toolkit will be an online resource that brings together insight from the ESOL, healthcare, and social work fields in relation to the experiences of English language learners in US health care. It will have teaching materials, explanations, resources, partnership ideas, case studies, learner links, and more. It should be ready to launch in the next week or 2, so I will post here when the launch happens.
Best wishes for the new school year!
Kate Singleton, MSW, LCSW
Health Literacy Consultant for Adult Education, Health Care, and Social Work
ksingletonlcsw@gmail.com