Health Literacy and Sunscreen: The Important Letters to Know

Especially in Florida, summertime means sunscreen season.  It’s important to protect your skin when you’re outdoors, as well as knowing how to pick the correct sunscreen and how to apply it.  According to the American Academy of Dermatology, there are a few basics that you, your students, and their families need to know.

Always read sunscreen labels, and only use products that offer:

• Broad-spectrum coverage (label may say “broad spectrum,” “protects against UVA/UVB” or “UVA/UVB protection”).
• SPF of 30 or higher.
• Water resistance.

Main messages to get across to students-

1.  Apply sunscreen (absolute minimum SPF 15) at least 15 minutes before you go outside.

2.  Re-apply sunscreen every two hours when outdoors.

3.  Use plenty of sunscreen to obtain maximum protection.  This is usually one ounce for the entire body, or the amount that can fill one shot glass.

3.  Whenever your shadow appears to be shorter than you are, find shade.

4.  It’s not just about sunscreen.  Wear protective clothing, including long sleeves, pants, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.

5.  Avoid the sun between 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. if possible.

The Florida Health Literacy Initiative is accepting applications for the 2013 Health Literacy Grants

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Florida Blue and the Florida Literacy Coalition are pleased to continue the Florida Health Literacy Initiative, providing grants up to $5,000 to support health literacy in adult ESOL and family literacy programs.

Low health literacy costs between $106 to $236 billion a year in the form of longer hospital stays, emergency room visits, increased doctor visits, and increased medication, according to a recent report from the University of Connecticut.  Adults with low literacy levels often fail to engage in early detection and preventive health care.  They also have significant difficulties navigating the health care system and following their doctor’s treatment plans.

The Florida Health Literacy Initiative provides training, resources, and funding to assist Florida ESOL and family literacy programs to integrate health education into their instruction.  The objective is to help students develop basic literacy and English language skills while gaining information to make informed choices regarding their health and nutrition.

Applicants must be nonprofit or government-based organizations providing adult ESOL and/or family literacy instruction in Florida.  Services may be delivered via classes, small groups, and one-to-one tutoring.

Click here for the application and grant guidelines.  Proposals must be received by March 19, 2013 by 5:00 pm.

A conference call will be conducted for prospective applicants on February 13, 2013 from 10 am to 11 am to provide an overview of the grant application and to answer questions.  Participation is optional.

Dial-in Number: 1-800-930-8721
Access Code: 6577983

If you have any questions, please contact Maribeth Buie at 407-246-7110 ext. 209 or via email at buiem@floridaliteracy.org.

Substitution Resolutions: Health Literacy and the Holidays

Dr. Maribeth Buie

Season’s Greetings, or Season’s Eating?  This time of year is renowned for excess – excessive decorating, excessive gifts, and excessive eating.  Eating, however, is not only about the food.  Eating revolves around tradition, culture, and fellowship.  Traditional dishes vary from home to home, but the holiday season is an optimal time to help your students discover the joys of learning through cooking.

Recipes can be a great teaching tool for your students to impart measurement, math, and healthy eating skills.  Knowing how to measure food and medicine is important, such as knowing the difference between a tablespoon (T or Tbsp) and a teaspoon (t or tsp).  Recipes often require math skills, such as working with fractions when doubling ¾ cup of flour or converting 12 ounces to 1 ½ cups.  Healthy eating is only a step away when using easy substitutions to lighten up the calorie/fat load without losing flavor.  For example, unsweetened applesauce may be substituted for oil or butter in sweet or savory dishes.  Greek yogurt is a great base for creamy dips instead of mayonnaise or sour cream.  In addition, low-fat or fat-free dairy products (skim or 1%-milk, low-fat or fat-free sour cream, and low-fat or part-skim cheese) may easily be substituted for their higher fat counterparts.

Below are two examples of traditional holiday foods in my home (yes, I’m from the south) – the original recipe is provided alongside a lighter version.  In both cases, the lighter version tastes just as good without the guilt (you can eat them all year long)!  Try this substitution exercise in the classroom (and on your own), and reap the rewards of learning via class cooking demonstrations or a potluck dinner – bon appétit!

Sweet Potato Casserole
Original Recipe	Lighter Version Recipe
2 cans yams, drained, mashed	3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1/2 cup sugar	Honey or low-glycemic sweetener to taste
2 eggs	1/2 cup chopped nuts
5 Tbsp butter	3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup raisins (plumped)	1/2 cup raisins (plumped)
2 Tbsp frozen orange juice	2 Tbsp frozen orange juice
Beat ingredients together, and place in a greased casserole	Stir ingredients together. Serve Warm
Top with: 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 Tbsp flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped nuts	* Note: I use the microwave to cooke the potatoes, pegans for the nuts, and Splenda for sweetener- that is personal preference of course.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes

Frozen Cranberry Dessert
Original Recipe	Lighter Version  Recipe
1-16 oz. can whole cranberreis with sauce	1-16 oz. can whole cranberries with sauce
1- 8 oz. package cream cheese	1-8 oz package fat-free cream cheese
3 Tbsp sugar	1/2 cup pecans chopped
2 Tbsp mayonnaise	1 small can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup pecans, chopped	1- 8 oz. container Cool Whip Free or alternative light whipped cream
1 small can crushed pineapple
8-oz. whipped cream
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and mayonnaise together. Add craberry sauce, drained pineapple, and nuts- mix well. Fold in whipped cream. Freeze.	Beat cream cheese. Add cranberry sauce, drained pineapple, and nuts- mix well. Fold in whippped topping. Freeze.

 

Ed Briggs- “Fast Food Medicine” has limitations

A recent round-table held by the Institute of Medicine focused on Health Literacy and Primary/Secondary healthcare prevention found that;

“The health system can be a cornerstone with interventions that promote healthful behaviors with the provision of health information addressing common risk factors for chronic disease such as diet, physical inactivity and blood pressure control and interventions that help patients (and the public) understand how to manage their existing disease and its effects through early detection and appropriate treatment.”

The report makes a series of strong and compelling recommendations for private and public entities to coordinate efforts targeted at developing, implementing and evaluating interventions to improve the health literacy of at risk populations.  They conclude such interventions could lead to significant improvements in health outcomes and cost savings.

And then reality intercedes.

The United States healthcare system has adopted a “Fast Food” model of healthcare delivery where metrics of how quickly care is delivered and how many ‘units’ are sold is paramount.   Nationally, we have “super-sized” healthcare by marketing the newest technology or medication as a panacea to ailments.   Instead of demand driving the delivery of healthcare, marketing has created a healthcare demand.  Advertising for medications, equipment and procedures are touted as “educational”, although often mislead the consumer to create demand for certain products or services.

Healthcare consumers have come to accept the quantity of care delivered, technically complex care and the rapidity of care delivery to equate with quality of care.  (How many signs have you seen displaying emergency room wait time?)  Increasingly individuals are becoming passive participants in their healthcare.  Technology and fragmentation of care have made the consumer much like the individual going through the drive thru at a fast food restaurant, rapid delivery of care with minimal human interaction.

Concurrent with this shifting of the healthcare landscape, the political landscape has forced decreasing funding of public health initiatives.  This decreased funding has resulted in fewer interventions targeted at public health education and decreasing availability of public health services.

The Institute of Medicine report demonstrates that improved health literacy in the areas of chronic disease prevention and management can result in improved healthcare outcomes and savings.  For the recommendations they make to be implemented requires a retooling of our entire healthcare delivery model.  For improved health literacy to become a priority would require that we see outcomes, not units sold, as the goal of our healthcare delivery system.  Such a dramatic change will require altering consumer demand, reworking professional priorities and creating the political will.

National Research Council. Promoting Health Literacy to Encourage Prevention and Wellness: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2011. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13186

Ed is an ARNP and the chair of the special interest group for health literacy with the Florida Nurses Association. He currently manages a blog called “Florida Nursing Perspectives.”

Maribeth Buie: Prescribing Change for Prescription Container Labeling

Prescription container labeling has long been an enormous obstacle in improving health literacy, as readers often struggle with ease of understanding, terminology, directions, and formatting issues.  However, for the first time ever, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention is publishing new standards for prescription container labeling.  The new standards will provide a universal approach to the format, appearance, content, and language of instructions inherent in such labeling.

The approach outlines how to organize prescription container labels in a patient-friendly way, to use clear language to describe dosages and intervals, and to improve readability with clear formatting [including “purpose for use” (e.g. – “for high blood pressure”) and addressing the visually impaired and those with limited English comprehension].  For example, to improve readability, the standards state that label formatting should use high contrast, lots of white space, and simple large fonts.  To provide explicit instructions, the standards specify that the phrase, “Take 2 tablets twice daily,” should state, “Take 2 tablets in the morning and 2 tablets in the evening.”  These examples are a small sampling of the patient-centered changes these new standards prescribe for prescription container labeling.

As 77 million Americans have limited health literacy, these standards are definitely a step in the right direction to help individuals understand their medications, to adhere to medication regimens, and to use their medications safely.  Look for improved labeling at pharmacies nationwide in the near future.

Florida Health Literacy Initiative

2012-13 Florida Health Literacy Initiative Recipients

Florida Literacy Coalition is proud to partner with Florida Blue to make available targeted grants to promote health literacy. The goal is to provide health-education resources for local adult English for Speakers of Other Languages and family literacy programs so that students in these programs can make informed choices about their health and nutrition.

FLC is very proud of the projects that 2009, 2010 and 2011 grant programs have completed. Project-based learning is a power activity that engages and empowers students to utilize the information they learned in the classroom and apply it in a larger context.

During the 2011-2012 grant year:

New Beginnings (Flagler County Schools) coordinated with a local elementary school to plant, maintain, and harvest a vegetable garden. They used the fresh produce in healthy recipes and developed their own cookbook.

Students from Motivational Edge created and produced a rap regarding health knowledge and nutrition.

S.B. Idea developed a reference book about the health knowledge they learned and provided sample dialogues between providers and their patients.

Students from Florida State College at Jacksonville took favorite recipes, made healthy substitutions, and gathered to share them.

East and West Area Schools (Polk County Educational Foundation) created meal plans in small groups and included new healthy recipe options.

Here are some ideas you can do for a health literacy project at your organization!

• Host a health fair, block party, or community bazaar partnering with community organizations to provide Body Mass Index education, blood pressure screenings, cholesterol checks, diabetes information, nutrition guidelines, etc.
• Partner with an elementary school to grow a vegetable garden.
• Have students make favorite family recipes using healthy ingredients, and develop a recipe book. Host a food tasting; get students to develop daily/weekly healthy menus to post on YouTube.
• Invite the medical/safety community to present to the class: a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, a WIC representative, a diabetes specialist, a massage therapist, CPR affiliate, fire department, hospital.
• Partner with a local gym to offer free short-term memberships to students with the possibility of scholarship assistance later on; invite a Zumba/aerobics instructor to create a fun video to distribute.

 

Emily Walsh: Veterans and Health Literacy pt.2

Emily Walsh

Besides physical injuries that are sustained during wartime, the most common ailments affecting our troops today are mental health problems.  The most prevalent mental health issue is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.  PTSD occurs after experiencing a traumatic event, like a war or an assault.  Symptoms include flashbacks to the traumatic event, feelings of anger, anxiety, or depression, and trouble sleeping.  PTSD is a serious condition but can be treated by a trained professional.  The doctor may prescribe medication or just “talk therapy”.  If your loved one is experiencing PTSD symptoms it is important to encourage them to seek help because PTSD can be damaging to relationships.

Substance abuse is another mental health problem common to veterans.  Substance abuse is treated similar to PTSD, although a rehab program may be necessary for some patients.  It is also possible that substance abuse can be connected with PTSD so contacting a trained professional is the best way to find a treatment right for you.

It can be frightening knowing that you or a loved one is more at risk for certain health issues because of their military service.  However, there are many services available to veterans who experience these common ailments because of their service and that makes coping with them a lot easier.

Emily Walsh: Veteran’s and Health Literacy pt. 1

Emily Walsh

Our service members are more at risk for certain ailments than their civilian friends and family.   These health risks range from physical issues to mental issues.  As a service member or family member of a service member, it is important to know the health risks associated with being in the military.  Recognizing the early warning signs of these potential health risks and getting to a doctor immediately may make the treatment process easier.  Early detection of many diseases and issues can be the difference between life and death.

During wartime the most common physical injuries to soldiers are those sustained from being out in the field.  The most serious of these health risks being gunshot wounds, lost limbs, and head injuries.   Obviously, these will need to be treated immediately.  Keep in mind that when someone sustains a head injury, symptoms of the injury may not occur until weeks afterwards.  Physical therapy will be needed for most of these issues, but most service members will be able to lead normal lives after sustaining a physical injury.

Another risk of wartime service is health issues that develop as a result of being exposed to hazardous materials.  There are many issues that can develop from being exposed to hazardous materials and the diseases and health risks may take years to manifest and service members may be exposed to chemicals that civilians are rarely exposed to.   For this reason it is important to see a doctor if you are worried about any unexplained health issues you or your loved one is having.  Make sure the doctor is aware that the patient is a veteran, because the knowledge may help the doctor make a proper diagnosis.

One of the most well known health risk service members have developed as a result of being in the military and being exposed to an environmental hazard is mesothelioma.  What is mesothelioma? It is a type of cancer that affects the membrane lining of the lungs and abdomen.   This type of cancer results from exposure to asbestos and is common in veterans who served in Navy Shipyards and can be difficult to diagnosis since symptoms are similar to many other more common health issues.  It is more common in older patients since asbestos has been slowly phased out of use in both the military and civilian life.  There is no cure for mesothelioma but doctors use surgery and chemotherapy to help improve the patients quality of life.

Top Stories in Literacy: July 2

Women’s Financial Confidence Falters
A year after women started to close the financial literacy gap with men, their financial knowledge and confidence are waning again. Women are especially falling behind when it comes to managing money and investing, says a study released Thursday on the financial literacy gender gap by education firm Financial Finesse.

Running: Raising funds for literacy still the goal of newly-renamed 5K
Known as the Run for Reading in its first three years, the Gulf Coast Classic still raises funds for the Literacy Council Gulf Coast, the largest such organization in the country with more than 3,100 students and 700 volunteer tutors.

Slow Down Tuition Hikes
This week, the Board of Governors approved a slew of more tuition increases, though it was less generous than in the past. Even so, it will cost plenty more to attend a state public university.

Health Nuts Media Releases Animated Asthma Series in Spanish
The seven-episode series, already valued by healthcare providers as a teaching tool for kids with asthma, is now available to millions of Spanish speakers who suffer from the chronic pulmonary condition.

Maribeth Buie: How Your Local Pharmacy Can Help

Every day, unintentional poisonings account for nearly 87 deaths and over 2,200 emergency room visits in the United States.  A large proportion of unintentional poisonings may be attributed to low health literacy.  This is such an important topic that an entire chapter in the Staying Healthy curriculum is devoted to ‘Medicines,’ including the difference between over-the-counter and prescription drugs, reading a prescription label, measuring medicines, side effects/warning labels, etc.

Prescription labels and drug information can be confusing for native English speakers at any education level.  Difficulties arise with small print, ambiguous wording, unfamiliar drug names, and inconsistent formats.  Logic follows that it will be even harder for adult learners.  As they make gains in their health literacy, the local pharmacy can help!

Some pharmacies offer prescription labels and drug information in languages other than English, all your students have to do is request it!

I took an informal poll of four major pharmacies in Florida – Walgreens, CVS, Publix, and WalMart.  Walgreens offers the most in terms of language translation.  They offer prescription labels/drug information in thirteen languages (other than English):  Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portugese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.  Walgreens registers all pharmacists able to speak multiple languages to provide translation services.  So, for example, if a Japanese-speaking customer arrives at the pharmacy, the Walgreens computer system can locate and call a pharmacist that speaks Japanese to provide information or answer questions (if one is on staff anywhere in the United States).  In addition, Walgreens offers large-print labels in English or Spanish upon request.

Other pharmacies also offer translation services.  CVS offers prescription label/drug information in Spanish and French, and Publix offers prescription label/drug information in Spanish.  WalMart does not offer any type of reliable translation service.

It is important to teach your students that a pharmacist is a great resource.  Pharmacists not only help with understanding prescription medicines, but they can also help with understanding over-the-counter medicines – especially which medicine is right for an individual’s particular symptoms.  Another great idea, invite your local pharmacist to speak to your class. Most pharmacies value and encourage community involvement and education.

The ultimate goal is to help adult learners improve their health literacy, including understanding labels and information in English.  However, on the way toward accomplishing that goal, the local pharmacy can be a literal life saver.