Health Literacy Workshop

What It Is, Why It Matters, How You Can Help is the focus of this health literacy workshop. Patients and their families need to be able to read and understand health information before they can act on it. This includes what health literacy is, why it matters and who it most affects.

Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L will present an overview about health literacy. She will highlight eight ways to improve communication. This includes practical strategies that health professionals of all disiplines can immediately incorporate into their practice. The objectives of the workshop are:

*Explain what health literacy is and its impact on treatment and care
*Describe 6 factors that affect health understanding
*Explore 8 ways to improve health communication
*Learn and practice strategies to write patient education materials
*Appreciate the necessity of reader feedback and ways to obtain it
*Appreciate the value of simple line drawings and metaphors
*Discuss way participants will use information presented

At the end of this workshop, participants should have the knowledge and skills to start making a health literacy difference. There are contact hours for continuing education. The date and time for this workshop is October 3, 2008 from 8:30am to 3:45pm. It will be held at:

Pennsylvania College of Technology
Bush Campus Center
Penn’s Inn
Williamsport, PA

For more information or to register, please contact:

Pennsylvania College of Technology
Workforce Development & Continuing Education
Phone: (570) 327-4775
Email: wdce@pct.edu
Web site: wdce

Registration deadline is September 19, 2008