Exploring Ways of Knowing: Teaching the Skill of Health Literacy to Refugee and Immigrant Women

Abstract

Refugees and immigrants have adverse health outcomes after arriving in the United States. These negative outcomes tend to be disproportionate to those of the general population, regardless of the person’s health status upon entry to the country. Research has shown that strong health literacy skills can improve health outcomes in this group. This article reports the results of a pilot in which Library and Information Science Master’s students deliver health literacy training to refugee and immigrant women. This training was created in consultation with experts and community partners. The participants were pre- and post-tested with the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults (STOFHLA) to assess the efficacy of this intervention. Following the completion of the course, the participants were interviewed and asked for comprehensive feedback on the relevance and helpfulness of the program to satisfy their health-related information needs. Their feedback was substantial and will be the basis of a future iteration of this pilot. The pre- and post-test scores of the group showed a statistically significant improvement, providing evidence that the course was effective in raising STOFHLA scores. This article provides insight into providing health literacy instruction for a highly vulnerable group that may be invaluable to library and information science professionals. The purpose of this work is to create a replicable curriculum targeting immigrant and refugee women to be delivered at libraries—and a program in which LIS students can get involved to prepare for dynamic community engagement.