With health care costs rising and health care getting more and more complex, the current generation of students will be making increasinly complex choices regarding how to manage their health care. From choosing a vitamin to choosing a doctor, young people will need knowledge and skills.
On January 28-29, 2009 in Washington,
D.C., the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN),
with the support of the United Health Foundation (UHF), gathered together 30
experts and leaders from the fields of education, health and philanthropy for
the symposium Health Literacy in the 21st Century: Setting an Education
Agenda. During these two days, the symposium’s participants began a
dialog about what kind of K-12 educational infrastructure will be needed to
prepare current and future students to participate in the 21st century’s health
and health care systems.
Participants agreed that for schools to play an active role in promoting health literacy, the focus should be on instruction that is based on the National Health Education Standards. Health literacy is the capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services in ways that are health enhancing. Standards-based health education helps to build the knowledge AND the skills young people will need. To learn more about the symposium or to read any of the papers prepared for it please follow the links below:
Health Literacy and Adolescents: An agenda for the future
Consumers in a Complex and Dynamic Health Care Environment
Health Literacy and Adolescents: An agenda for the future
Role of 21st Century Schools in Promoting Health Literacy
In 2011, NEA HIN with support from United Health Foundation launched the online professional development workshop, Health Literacy: A 21st Century Asset on the NEA Academy. Free to the public this sixty minute workshop provides and introduction to health literacy and the National Health Education Standards.