Dr. Winston Lawrence knows a lot about adult literacy education and community health. He works at the Literacy Assistance Center (LAC), a non-profit adult literacy organization providing professional development and technical assistance to the adult literacy community throughout New York City.
In this work, Dr. Lawrence oversees the city-wide implementation of LAC’s Health Literacy Initiative. He trains teachers and health professionals about health literacy principles and strategies. He also facilitates partnerships between literacy agencies and health care institutions.
In this podcast he talks with Helen Osborne about ways to apply adult literacy principles to medicine and public health. Topics include:
- Why and how a literacy organization got involved with health literacy
- How teaching practical health literacy skills helps teachers and students alike
- Ways health literacy partnerships benefit both literacy and health programs
- Resources to start building health literacy partnerships near you
More Ways to Learn:
- Literacy Assistance Center in New York City, www.lacnyc.org
- Lawrence, W. “Advancing Health Literacy: Building Health Communication from the Patient Side.” J of Communication in Healthcare (2008). Vol. 1, No. 2: 182-193.
- Lawrence W, Van Brackle L. “Addressing Health Disparities Through Adult Literacy Education” Literacy Harvest (2007). Available athttp://www.lacnyc.org/resources/publications/harvest.htm#current
- Lawrence W, Soricone L. “A Conversation with FOB: Learning How to Teach Health Literacy,” Focus on Basics (2005). Vol. 8, Issue A. Available at http://www.ncsall.net/?id=995
- Health Literacy Out Loud podcast #15, “Dr. Rima Rudd talks about the health literacy burden in healthcare.” Available at /2009/05/04/hlol-15-dr-rima-rudd-talks-about-the-health-literacy-burden-in-healthcare
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