Group items tagged

Annamaria Lusardi uses her blog to explain her day to day thoughts on the state of financial literacy in the nation. Her thoughts are generally in reaction to the current state of financial literacy or with criticism that she has heard for or against financial literacy. Her posts view financial literacy through the lenses of youth, as she is for financial literacy education in school. also, she discusses the state of retired peoples financial literacy. This source is very useful becasue it is usually very up-to-date, and the blogger has done a lot of research on the subject.

Parker and Ratzan discuss what health literacy is, the importance of having health literacy skills, and the need for a strategy to address limited health literacy. The degree to which individuals are able to understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions require a health information strategy that addresses the problems of low health literacy. Low health literacy is prevalent because current health information is somewhat complex. Parker and Ratzan present a clear definition of health literacy and why a strategy is important for better communication.

This blog, published by Stephen Dubner, talks about financial literacy among high school students, and the problems in a dangerously low financial literacy level. He also helps diagnose financial literacy by offering a series of questions to test the reader's own financial literacy. It is a very useful article to use not only in studying the financial literacy of America, but also to diagnose yourself on your own financial literacy. The comments posted on the blog are also very informative of the reactions to the freakonomics blog.

Supiano explains the extreme need for financial literacy in college campuses, where students are adults, yet still have very little financial knowledge or independence. Supiano discusses that without the new initiatives for new finance classes at colleges, non-business students would graduate with very little financial literacy, but in many cases with a lot of debt. This article paints a very great picture of the situation of our college financial literacy. The article gives helpful knowledge into some examples of college literacy initiatives, and offers many possible solutions to the financial literacy problem among college students.

This report discusses the affects low health literacy has on a person's health status and why health literacy is important to overall health. Low health literacy affects a person's health status more than any other factor, including education, income, and employment or race. Because people with limited health literacy don't tend to seek preventative care and are less likely to follow prescribed treatments, health is compromised and the possibility of a hospital stay is more likely. The report aptly describes the reasons why health literacy is important.

In this article, the relationship between literacy practices and spatiality is explored in the context of family literacy. The article draws on fieldwork in family literacy classrooms as part of two evaluations in Croydon and Derbyshire of family learning provision. Methods of evaluation included classroom observations in rural and suburban locations. In addition, teachers and parents were interviewed. In this instance, family learning included literacy and language activities with parents and children in school and nursery settings. These were learning spaces where parents and children collaborated on joint projects including book making, storytelling, the making of visual artefacts and reading and writing activities. The research revealed how family literacy classrooms could be understood as 'third spaces', between home and school, offering parents and children discursive opportunities drawing on both domains.

Weiss discusses the scope of the health literacy problem, the barriers faced by patients with low literacy, and methods to foster verbal and written communication in low literacy patients. Low literacy is pervasive in the U.S. and causes an unnecessary financial and health burden. Because of the complicated health literature, most patients have inadequate understanding of what is said, and simple strategies can alleviate low health literacy problems. Weiss makes interesting and provocative points, but much of his observations are based on his medical practice.

In this article, Pickard and Reichelt discuss the alternative to Financial Literacy classes in high school, online courses for students and adults on personal finance. This study offers that online courses are very useful tool in gaining financial literacy. The article discusses the state of our financial literacy in the context of family finances. Pickard and Reichelt also give valuable statistics on financial literacy in regard to important demographics such as race and income level. The authors connect the issues with personal finance with the macroeconomic issues, which is very helpful for the reader.

This press release describes resident Bush's call for financial literacy, as he enstates an advisory board called the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. President Bush recognizes the connection between financial literacy and the current economic crisis. This is a very informative source on the current events of the government, and a great depiction of Great Bush's view of the importance of financial literacy.

This article talks about the state of financial literacy. What makes this article different than most of the others that I have come across, is that it talks about financial literacy in an international context. It quotes several well qualified scholars on the issue and not only discusses the need for financial literacy, but the article gives several different solutions for it, rather than just compulsory financa classes. It also discusses President Bush's new advisory on financial literacy and the consequences.

Health literacy is basic reading and numerical skills that allow a person to function in the health care environment. Even though most adults read at an eighth-grade level, and 20 percent of the population reads at or below a fifth-grade level, most health care materials are written at a 10th-grade level. Older patients are particularly affected because their reading and comprehension abilities are influenced by their cognition and their vision and hearing status. Inadequate health literacy can result in difficulty accessing health care, following instructions from a physician, and taking medication properly. Patients with inadequate health literacy are more likely to be hospitalized than patients with adequate skills. Patients understand medical information better when spoken to slowly, simple words are used, and a restricted amount of information is presented. For optimal comprehension and compliance, patient education material should be written at a sixth-grade or lower reading level, preferably including pictures and illustrations. All patients prefer reading medical information written in clear and concise language. Physicians should be alert to this problem because most patients are unwilling to admit that they have literacy problems. (Am Fam Physician 2005;72:463-8. Copyright© 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians.)

The National Institute for Literacy serves as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs, coordinates literacy services and policy, and provides leadership for literacy in the United States. The Institute disseminates information on scientifically based reading research pertaining to children, youth, and adults as well as information about development and implementation of classroom reading programs based on the research. A great resource for articles and statistics.

Vernon, lead author of this report, and fellow colleagues, discuss the economic inefficiency in the U.S. healthcare system caused by low health literacy. Annual costs to the U.S. economy are in the billion dollar range. The report shows that low health literacy is associated with lack of stable coverage and reliable health care access, a national health reform to improve health literacy would result in major savings as well as better health care. Vernon and associates make valid points to the cost of low health literacy to the economy.

One possibility for those interested in sports to consider is the concept of physical literacy, here called "movement literacy," the idea that just as our minds learn to function at higher levels and acquire new skills, our bodies must do the same. However, between phyical education budgets being cut and increasing importance placed on technology, our understanding of movement literacy is decreasing. This article focuses on students in Kenya, where the most original innovative learning takes place during unstructed playtime. Includes a PDF and several photographs.

Wanjek discusses how low health literacy negatively affects the nation. Health complications and possible death are the most deleterious problems affecting people with low health literacy. Unnecessary spending by the health industry is another problem causing inpatient spending to increase by approximately $1000. Because of the effects of low literacy, the nation's health is compromised and the cost of healthcare thus escalates to billions of dollars annually. Wanjek makes intriguing points, but most of his information is taken from another study.

Kozup and Hogarth discuss the necessity of consumer warning labels on financial matters such as credit cards, mortgage, and mutual funds. They successfully make the analogy of indebtedness to obesity, and our financial state, like our health, can be helped by reading the labels on what they are consuming. The authors describe financial literacy partially as an ability to weigh the pros and cons of financial options available to them, as well as familiarity with the macroeconomic conditions of their environment. The authors also talk about third party financial intermediaries, and the role of policy in consumer saving. The authors offer a great variety of solutions to the problem of financial literacy, and the analogies make it very easy for the reader to understand and learn about the responsibility of financial literacy. Also, the rhetorical questioning involves the reader and implores them to form their own opinion.

David Natharius, in his article The More We Know, the More We See: The Role of Visuality in Media Literacy, he talks about how the role of literacy is vital in understanding the change from literacy to visually. All of which can be seen in television, film, and Internet.

Nutbeam describes the importance of improving access to health information and the capacity to use it effectively as a public health goal. Because strategies include more personal forms of communication and community-based educational outreach, a reduction in low health literacy would be possible and the end goal would result in individuals being more involved in their health care decisions. This would empower them. Nutbeam makes a reasonable point for health literacy as a public health goal as a means for reducing low health literacy.

This article describes the results of the Federal Reserve Financial Literacy Test on high school seniors. It explains that the results of the most recent test are the worst in the history of the test. The article does a great job linking the poor results with the current mortgage crisis, and expresses the importance of financial literacy in consumers today. The article is very useful in providing concrete data on the state of our country's financial literacy.

The article explores how literacy reforms alter the issues of identity, and cites the influence of technology on student's literacy skills. The author said that the emergence of MySpace site, Facebook, and cellphone cameras have changed the way young people communicate and write, and informed a statement from a young adolescent girl which validates the literacy changes. He also stressed several intriguing developments which allow students to manipulate and play with their identities, and informs that students spend much more time reading and writing online.