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Literacy Statistics

Defining Literacy:

  • Literacy is the ability to use “printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” (Kirsch, et al., 1993)

Defining Literacy: Health Literacy

  • “Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” (Healthy People 2010, a U.S. public health initiative)
  • “Health literacy is a constellation of skills, including the ability to perform basic reading and numerical tasks required to function in the health care environment.”(Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy for the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association)
  • “Health literacy has three levels: functional health literacy, which refers to communication of information; interactive health literacy, about the development of personal skills; and critical health literacy, needed for personal and community empowerment.” (Nutbeam, 2000)
  • “Health literacy is a shared responsibility in which patients and providers each must communicate in ways the other can understand.” (Health Literacy from A to Z, Helen Osborne, 2005, p2)

 Defining Literacy: Prose, Document, Quantitative

  • Prose literacy: the knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from texts including editorials, news stories, poems and fictions;
  • Document literacy: the knowledge and skills required to locate and use information contained in various formats, including job applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables, and graphics; and
  • Quantitative literacy: the knowledge and skills required to apply arithmetic operations, either alone or sequentially, to numbers embedded in printed materials, such as balancing a chequebook, figuring out a tip, completing an order form or determining the amount of interest on a loan from an advertisement. (Literacy Task Assessment Guide, Julian Evetts, Michel Gauthier, 2005)

 Literacy Statistics: Canada

    • (Survey) confirmed that millions of people in Canada can’t read or don’t read. (1987 Southam News National Literacy Survey)
    • 38% of Canadians between 16-69 years have difficulty with written materials. (Stats Canada, 1990)
    • Approximately 22% of Canada’s adults have serious difficulty dealing with printed materials, and identify themselves as having difficulties reading. (Reading for the Future: A Portrait of literacy in Canada, 1997)
    • Approximately 24-26% of the adult population can read but not well; they can only deal with material that is simple and clearly laid out. They cannot cope with unfamiliar or complex material. Most say they avoid situations that require reading. (Reading for the Future: A Portrait of literacy in Canada, 1997)
    • More than 5,000 Canadians (16-69 years old) surveyed to assess the ability to understand, use printed information in daily activities (at home, work, in community). Found that approximately 48% of Canadians have some degree of difficulty with everyday reading tasks (International Audit Literacy Survey, Statistics Canada, 1995)
    • The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) published in 1995 by Statistics Canada. This site provides a collection of free publications: http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/downpub/listpub.cgi?catno=89-552-MIE. Reading the future: A literacy portrait in Canada provides the highlights of the Canadian report: http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/89F0093XIE/free.htm. The International Adult Literacy (IALS) database includes the IALS search tool to retrieve literacy data for 30 countries and a wide range of combined variables: http://www27.statcan.ca/ialdata/search.asp?lang=1033 (Literacy Task Assessment Guide, Julian Evetts, Michel Gauthier, 1995)
    • Canada was one of the first countries to participate in the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). This study was sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The results of the IALS were published by Statistics Canada in the following reports:
      • December 1995, Literacy, Economy and Society;
      • September 1996, Reading the Future: A Portrait of Literacy in Canada; and
      • November 1997, Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society
      In addition, Statistics Canada published a series of short research documents based on the data collected in the IALS. These documents cover a range of specialized subjects and an in-depth analysis of the economic, political, social, and cultural factors that affect or are affected by literacy. This additional research was published in the following documents:
      • September 1997, Literacy Skills of Canadian Youth;
      • December 1997, Employee Training: An International Perspective;
      • May 1998, The Value of Words: Literacy and Economic Security in Canada;
      • November 1998, At Risk: A Socioeconomic Analysis of Health and Literacy Among Seniors; and
      • January 2000, Literacy in the Information Age – Final Report of the International Adult Literacy Survey.
Free copies of the above research documents can be downloaded in PDF format:
  • Statistics Canada, 1995, Literacy, economy and society: Results of the first international adult literacy survey. Paris/Ottawa: OECD/Statistics Canada
  • Statistics Canada, 1991, Survey of literacy skills used in daily activities: Survey overview- literacy skills. Ottawa: Statistics Canada
  • Statistics Canada, 1991, Adult literacy: Results of a national study. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, Labour and Household Surveys

 Literacy Stats: United States

  • Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have (at most) marginal literacy skills. (United States National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992). Similar in 23 countries worldwide (International Adult Literacy Survey, Statistics Canada, 1995)
  • Literacy estimates by state, city or town online at www.casas.org/lite/litcode/Search.cfm

 Immigration Statistics: Canada

  • 1.4 immigrants came to Canada between 2001 and 2006.
  • Nearly 80% of immigrants settle in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or Calgary.
  • Immigrants will account for 100% of the labour force growth market by 2011.
  • 19.8 % of Canada’s total population is immigrants.
  • Approximately 40% of Toronto and Vancouver residents are visible minorities.
(Statistics Canada 2006 Census. A Portrait of the Foreign Born Population and Statistics Canada 2001 Census. A Business Case for Diversity)

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Literature

Health Literacy:

  • Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy for the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, 1999. Health literacy: Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs, JAMA, 281(6):552-557
  • American Medical Foundation and the American Medical Association, 2003. Health Literacy: Help your patients understand. Available at http://www.ama-assn.org/pub/category/9913.html
  • Doak CC, Doak LG, Root JH, 1996. Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills, 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company
  • Centre for Health Care Strategies, Inc., 2003. Fact Sheet on Health Literacy. Available at http://www.healthypeople.gov
  • Institute of Medicine, 2004. Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press
  • Literacy in the information age: Final report of the international adult literacy survey, 2000. Statistics Canada, Available at http://www.statcan.ca/start.html
  • Ratzan SC, 2001. “Health literacy: Communication for the public good,” Health Promotion International, 16(2):207-214
  • Singleton K, 2002. “Health literacy and adult English language learners,” ERIC Q&A. Available at http://www/nnlm.gov/scr/conhlth/hlthlit.htm
  • The Medical Library Association. Deciphering medspeak. Available at www.mlanet.org

 Canada Literacy:

United States Literacy:

  • Kirsch IS, Jungeblut A, Jenkins L, Kolstad A, 1993. Adult literacy in America: A first look at the results of the national adult literacy survey. National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. Available at http://nces.ed.gov/nnal
  • United States National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992
  • Brown H, Prisuta R, Jacobs B, Campbell A (1996). Literacy of Older Adults in America. National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education.
  • United States Census 2000, “Language use and English-speaking ability: 2000,” US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. Available at http://factfinder.census.gov
  • National Institute for Literacy, 1998. The State of Literacy in America. Washington, D.C.: National Institute for Literacy.
  • Guthrie, J., & Kirsch, I. 1983, What is literacy in the United States: Reading competencies and practices. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association
  • Kirsch, I., & Jungeblut, A. 1986, Literacy Profiles of America’s young adults. Princeton, NJ: National Assessment of Educational Progress/Educational Testing Service, 1990
  • Klare, G., 1981, Readability and Comprehensive, Information and Design Journal, 2 (3&4), 479-495 Assessing Readability:
  • The Fry Readability Formula: Centre for Disease Control, Human Subjects Research website http://www.cdc.gov/od/ads/fry.htm
  • SMOG formula: Center for Disease Control, Human Subjects Research website http://www.cdc/gov/od/ads/smog.htm
  • Call JS, Dale E, 1995. Readability Revisited: The New Dale-Chall Readability Formula. Cambridge, MA: Bookline Books
  • Micro Power and Light, 1995. Readability Calculations software. Includes the Dale-Chall, Reading Ease, Flesch Grade Level, FOG, and the Powers-Sumner-Kearl formulas. Available at http://micropowerandlight.com Consumer Health Libraries:
  • CAPHIS (Consumer Patient Health Information) http://www.caphis.mlanet.org
  • MEDLINEplus Health Information http://medlineplus.gov
  • National Institute of Literacy/LINCS http://www.nifl.gov/lincs

Forms:

  • How to make forms and notices understandable-and compliant, Patient Care Management, 19(8):7-8
  • Schriver KA, 1997. Dynamics in Document Design. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  • National Literacy and Health Program, 1998. Creating Plain Language Forms for Seniors: A Guide for the Public, Private, and Not-for-Profit Sectors. Canadian Public Health Association. Available at http://www.nlhp.cpha.ca/publications.htm
  • Creating Plain Language Forms for Seniors: A Guide for the Public, Private and Not-for-profit Sectors (1998). National Literacy and Health Program, Canadian Public Health Association
  • Scientific and Technical Information Simply Put, 1999. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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