Health Education Leadership, KY

Health literacy is the foundation for the development ofHEEL health education program. A deeper understanding, evaluation, and development of health literacy concepts are the focus of this proposal. Health literacy is best understood within the relational, social, educational, and environmental contexts Knowledge gained from the proposed intervention will inform the health literacy work by many agencies statewide. The Health Education Leadership KY Project utilizes the existing infrastructure of the Cooperative Extension Service to impact the health literacy of Kentuckians. Health Education Leadership, KY Project will address health literacy by: • Working with university-community teams to develop family focused health literacy strategies that can be piloted in local communities utilizing community participatory research techniques to inform not only Extension programs but primary care practices in the state. • Providing support for Extension and other Professionals in the field addressing complex health literacy issues by providing health literacy training, resources and access to expertise throughout the University and Kentucky. • Adding to the health literacy knowledge base through assessing the health literacy of participants in HEEL pilot programs. We will: 1. Utilize a model for family health literacy interventions with a conceptual ecological framework identifYing the family at the center of improving health literacy. 2. Create a partnership of families, communities, Extension professionals, and University researchers to design and implement health literacy programs at the local. 3. Utilize the Extension diffusion model to more rapidly diffuse new research findings and health literacy programs throughout Kentucky.