Health Literacy Assessment

Purpose: To determine whether the literacy level of your selected health education resource is appropriate for at risk populations.

Directions: Select a written (or downloaded from internet source) health education resource (pamphlet, handout, etc.) that you would find at a healthcare facility such as a clinic, health care provider’s office, or hospital.

Using your selected health education resource, write an APA style paper to communicate the following:

1. Define health literacy with a scholarly source.

2. Analyze the impact of low literacy on health promotion and health education with a scholarly source.

3.Identify and discuss three at risk populations for low health literacy (based on community demographics and risk factors known in the literature for low health literacy).

4. Calculate the literacy level of the selected education resource using the SMOG Formula (SMOG Readability Calculator: http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp).

5. Analyze the results and present report findings.

6. Evaluate the appropriateness of the literacy level of the education resource for the three identified at risk populations.

7. Explain and justify SMOG recommendations to enhance the readability of the educational material for the three identified at risk populations.

8. Use only scholarly/professional, peer-reviewed references. Do not use Wikipedia or internet sources that are not officially recognized as authority websites, as such websites are not scholarly sources. Also, keep in mind that not every .org domain is an authoritative website.

9. Type written 2-3 double spaced page (NOT including the title page and references)

10. Written in APA format (6th edition). This paper should include:
a. Formal components including title page
b. APA running head
c. Include page numbers
d. APA formatted headings in the body of the paper
e. Appropriate in-text reference citations
f. A reference page, in correct APA format