Improving Health Literacy in School-Aged Children
Authors: Sierra Moffitt, Ashley O’Neal, Branna Pye, and Zoe Ray
Faculty Supervisor: Nicole Masano, DNP, RN, CNM, CNE
Community Partner: Boys & Girls Club Early Literacy Academy
Abstract:
Our project focused on improving health literacy, we learned that this is a topic that can lead to poor health outcomes. Much of the information patients receive in the health care setting is material they need to be able to read and understand. Without proper reading skills and understanding, patients can miss important information. With this in mind, we decided to focus on improving health literacy in young children. We felt that introducing health topics at a younger age, and encouraging them to read, would help improve their health literacy. The community partner we selected was the Early Literacy Academy, which is a part of the Boys and Girls Club. The health topic we went over with the children was hand hygiene and preventing the spread of germs. We found books that covered this topic to read to the kids and had the children guide us while we demonstrated washing our hands. We hope to encourage the children to keep improving their reading skills by donating books to the club.
