"Health Information Accessibility and Availability and Its Impact on the Health Literacy of Hispanics"

Jennifer Stone

Jennifer Stone graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010 with a double major in Biology and Spanish.  She is currently working as an associate research specialist in the Pathology Unit at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center with the plan of applying to Medical School in the future.  This research project was done as part of an English Composition course taught by Rebecca Lorimer who also advised Jennifer throughout the course of the project. 

Contents

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Resources

Conclusion

From the survey of health information at healthcare provider locations throughout a mid-sized Midwestern city and the research conducted, it appears that the inaccessibility and lack of printed health information materials as well as the shift of printed materials online could be affecting the health literacy of Hispanics, especially because of Hispanic people's lack of access to the Internet.

Health literacy can have serious impacts on a person’s health, and various studies have demonstrated the correlation between poor health literacy and poor health (Dewalt, 2004; Kalichman, 2000; Schillinger, 2002).  By improving accessibility and availability of printed health information materials, it could be possible to improve both people’s health literacy and their overall health.  However, there are many other factors that contribute to health literacy, and because of this and the small scope of this study, more comprehensive studies need to be done in order to fully understand and learn how to fix the problem of health literacy in the United States, especially among Hispanics.