Health Literacy Janet Solla Community Health and Learning Foundation Janet Solla – Director

Who were the learners and in what context(s) were they involved in learning and for what purposes ? People living in areas of multiple deprivation with low health literacy. This means they have difficulty making healthier choices for themselves and their family’s or acting on health info and advice Mainly parents of young children who are involved because they want to understand more about how to make healthier choices for themselves and their family, particularly their children. Learning takes place in a variety of community and early years settings Mainly but not exclusively issues around healthy eating, shopping on a budget and physical activity.

What processes, approaches or systems did you use to gather wider impact than the learning goals determined by the learning programme? We have a mixed base line and end of course questionnaire where we asked about health behaviours and habits e.g. how much fruit and veg they ate, how often do they cook a meal from scratch etc External Evaluation of SfH and HEY! with the later attempting to understand how behaviour change has been sustained. Case studies

What impact was revealed Increased knowledge and understanding about topic area Increased confidence in making healthier choices or self managing existing condition such as diabetes 88% reported behaviour change in terms eating healthier and 65% taking more exercise. 80% Progress on to other learning, with 29% of those already found or registered on a course People saving money (as much as £60 p.w.) One family bought dining table