Richmond County Literacy Network
It's Never Too Late To Learn!

How Literacy Affects You

Literacy training enables you to read, write and use numbers more effectively, but what does this mean for you personally?

It Affects Your Employability:

There is a strong link between a person’s literacy ability and their ability to find work and keep a job. 

Persons who are more literate are likely to have better jobs, earn more    money, and are less vulnerable to unemployment.

It Affects the Size of Your Income:

· Data shows that there is a strong link between literacy levels and income.  People with lower literacy levels are less likely to be employed and earn less when they are employed.

People with higher levels of literacy are more likely to have higher incomes than people at the lower levels of the literacy scale.

It Affects Your Ability for Advancement:

· There is a tendency to train the best and forget the rest.  Employees with better education and training have a better chance at getting more skilled and better paying jobs. 

Data shows a strong link between literacy, education and the amount of training received.  Those people with higher levels of education and literacy receive more training.  This allows them to increase their skills and knowledge which puts them at an advantage over people with lower skills and levels of education in the competition for promotions and higher paying jobs.

It Affects the Development of Your Children:

· Surveys have shown that there is a relationship between the literacy and education levels of parents and that of their children.

Interventions aimed at improving parents’ skills have incredible effects on how fast and well their children learn to speak.  These effects can have long-term benefits for their future health and well-being.

Children who do well in school often approach school ready to learn. School readiness is influenced by how much education the parents have.

It Affects Your Health:

In the doctor’s office, literacy is the ability to understand printed and written health information well enough to make informed decisions about your well being and that of your family.

Individuals with low literacy skills are at risk of not understanding the materials given to them by health care providers.  Low literacy levels can also keep an individual from understanding the risks of medical procedures.

DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

What Makes Us Healthy?

There are many factors that influence our health. Research shows that having an adequate income, a good education, and a safe environment is just as important as how much exercise we get or what food we eat. Our health is strongly linked with our opportunities to work, learn, play and contribute to our communities. Health is also linked to where we live, how we care for each other, our sense of belonging in our community and how much love, attention and stimulation we receive as children.

There is no simple answer to the question “What makes us healthy”. Our health is influenced by many different factors. These factors, as listed below, are called the determinants of health:

• Income and Social Status
• Healthy Child Development
• Social Support Networks
• Personal Health Practices
• Education
• Individual Capacity and Coping Skills
• Employment and Working Conditions
• Gender
• Social and Physical Environments
• Health Services
• Genetics
• Culture

Literacy is a Key Determinant of Health

Health Literacy goes beyond reading the words on a page. It is a person’s ability to read and understand basic health information and services needed to make sound health decisions. Health Literacy is also about how the health care, education and other systems provide information and services that can be understood by the consumer.

Health Literacy Challenges:

People with low literacy levels are more likely to:

• Find nutritious food too expensive.
• Have difficulty using the complex health care system.
• Be employed in dangerous jobs and be subject to injury.
• Experience chronic stress that impairs the immune system.
• Get less preventive health care.
• Use expensive health care services, such as emergency departments, more often.

Health Literacy Solutions:

In order to improve health literacy in Richmond County we need:

• A better understanding of the relationship between literacy and health.
• Health literacy materials to be included in adult literacy programs.
• Easily accessible health information that recognizes the user’s learning style.
• The understanding that health literacy is useful to everyone, including those with limited literacy skills.

HEALTH LITERACY

It’s Never too Late to Learn!

The Richmond County Literacy Network was established in April,1998 to address the adult literacy needs of the residents of Richmond County.

Our Main Activities:

• Adult Learning Programs which provide upgrading in the areas of reading, writing, math and human relations
• GED Preparation (Prepares you to write the GED test to obtain a Grade 12 General Equivalency Diploma)
• Youth Employability Programs
• Life/Work Skills Workshops
• Introduction to Computers
• One-on-One Tutoring
• Promotion and Support of Literacy and Lifelong Learning

Who Comes to Our Programs:

• Adult learners over 18 years of age who have been out of school for a year or more
• Adults, including seniors, looking to improve their reading, writing, math and spelling skills to help improve their quality of life
• Adults who are referred by government agencies or community organizations
• Parents who want to help and support their school age children
• Seasonal and shift workers who can enroll at their convenience
• Adults who wish to prepare to write the GED test and obtain a high school diploma
• Adults who need a higher education level for employment or further training