What This Guide Is About | Introduction | Materials | Indices | Home

According to the 1999 U.S. Census Bureau, one in ten people living within the United States is foreign born. There are approximately 36.4 million people living below the poverty level, and a large percentage are immigrants. The National Center for Education Statistics states that 44 percent of those living in poverty are also functioning at the lowest level of literacy. Those represented in the lowest economic and literacy levels are likewise the most vulnerable to a lack of health knowledge, or access to health care.

The connection between immigration, limited English literacy, and lack of access to health information and services cannot be ignored. The results of this connection has an impact on families, communities, and the entire country. An agenda of action is needed, and this guide is but a small step in that direction. Listed here are health education materials and Websites appropriate for use with people from different cultures and adults with limited literacy skills. Each material listed has a description of how it can be used, along with information on how to order it, and how much it costs. Each Website includes the Web address and a description of what you can find there. There are also subject and language indices located in the back of the guide which will be useful for looking up specific materials quickly.

Most of the materials discussed in this guide are intended for health care practitioners working with patients with limited English literacy skills, or adult literacy practitioners -particularly English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teachers-who want to incorporate health topics into their curricula. But this guide can be useful to anyone working with people from different cultures or adults with limited literacy skills.

This guide is available as a Web document with direct links to materials and agencies. It is a work in progress. We will expand and revise it, as new materials are discovered and developed. Visit Culture, Health and Literacy: A Guide to Health Education Materials for Adults with Limited English Literacy Skills on the Web at

http://www.worlded.org/us/health/docs/culture/

What This Guide Is About | Introduction | Materials | Indices | Home

World Education
November 2000