The Virginia Adult ESOL Health Literacy Toolkit is now online!

Submitted by Kate Singleton on Sat, 09/07/2013 - 10:34
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I am happy to announce that the Virginia Adult ESOL Health Literacy Toolkit is now available at http://www.valrc.org/toolkit/index.html.  The Toolkit is published by the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center and draws on adult ESOL and healthcare social work knowledge and perspectives.  This comprehensive new resource for adult ESOL educators and others interested in health care communication with English language learners contains:

  • Reproducible lesson plans and teaching materials on high-interest, hard-to-teach health topics
  • Easy-to-read resources on using US health care for English language learners to access directly
  • Explanations of health literacy terms, concepts, and issues as they relate to English language learners
  • Resources for understanding and explaining US health care to English language learners
  • Case studies to see the issues in action
  • Resources and tips for accessing affordable care
  • Examples and how-to’s for engaging in interdisciplinary health literacy projects
  • And more! 

​Kate Singleton, MSW, LCSW (Toolkit author)
Health Literacy Consultant for Adult Education, Health Care, and Social Work
E-mail: ksingletonlcsw@gmail.com
Twitter: @healthlitkate
Facebook: ESOL Health LIteracy https://www.facebook.com/esolhealthliteracy

 

 

Comments

Kate,  thank you again for creating this toolkit that touches on a subject that impacts so many of our adult ESOL learners.  I find it hard to believe the Affordable Care Act (ACA)  does not necessarily cover non-citizens, even those with permanent residence status, in many states.  The ACA has many gaps and is not the "dream" healthcare act for so many of the clients we serve in adult basic education.  While I want to believe our society is making progress with immigration reform, and moving towards a system that embraces all people, we are still marginalizing groups  who happen to have limited English proficiency.  On another LINCS discussion forum we talk about transforming adult education with technology,  yet here we rememer that so many people are still left out of basic necessities such as affordable access to health care providers.  Please, let's rememer that before we can think about technology, common core standards, and employment skills, we have folks who simply need to be given equal opportunity and equal access to basic life necessities such as healthcare.    Thanks for listening to me rant political on a Saturday night.  Susan W in Virginia.

Thanks for your comments, Susan.  I'm sure many ESOL educators in the US share the frustration that you express. Personally I have seen many ESOL learners drop out of ESOL programs because they didn't have timely health care access for a potentially manageable problem.  They developed serious, chronic health problems due to the late onset of health care (which they generally got via the ER).  Not only was their education put on hold, but their family's situations became much more difficult due to financial strain of hospital bills and caring for the person with the serious health issue.

The Toolkit puts forth a lot of suggestions for teachers and programs to work toward better targeting health instruction to match learners' healthcare realities.  Additionally, as October nears, I encourage programs to consider reaching out very soon to the organizations in their regions that are being funded to provide ACA "navigators." Navigators are being trained to explain health coverage options and help register people for the options they qualify for.  If your program can partner with a navigator organization, maybe help can come directly to class sites to make sure that those learners who do qualify for health coverage under ACA get the information and help that they need to apply.  For those learners who do not qualify, teachers can be sure to provide information on the nearest free clinic or community health center.  It's helpful to look into what the registration requirements are for the individual clinics and health centers as they can vary a lot from what I have heard.

Search tool to find a health center (sliding scale): http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search_HCC.aspx?byCounty=1

National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics clinic finder: http://www.nafcclinics.org/

I hope this info helps.

Kate

Hi Susan,

I am wondering if you have been getting questions from your ESOL learners about health care and the ACA? I am trying to find out what kinds of resources teachers are using AND needing in order to address this in their classrooms. October is when everyone (who is fortunate enough to qualify!) is required to sign up for health insurance, and I imagine that this is going to come up often in classrooms.

Thanks for any feedback you can share!

Julie