Since 1989, the Guysborough County Adult Learning Association (GALA) in Nova Scotia has been working with adults who want to improve their reading, writing and math skills.
GALA practitioner Lois Ann Dort recently attended a Literacy Nova Scotia conference where she learned about ABC Health Matters, a health literacy program presented by ABC Life Literacy Canada. ABC Health Matters empowers Canadians to manage their health more effectively by increasing their confidence when talking about and making decisions regarding health issues with family, friends and health professionals. Through the program, adults develop a deeper understanding of how to advocate for their and their family’s health and better understand how to access health care.
“We live in a rural community in Nova Scotia where many of our learners are over the age of 55, so I was thrilled to learn about a program like ABC Health Matters,” says Dort. “The older we get, the more we use the health care system, and with many of our learners living up to an hour away from a hospital and facing rotating ER closures and doctor shortages, the need for accessible health literacy education is clear.”
Dort signed up to run a series of ABC Health Matters workshops, starting with Taking Charge of Your Health. Held in a small community of just 50 people, the workshop attracted eight participants, representing 16 per cent of the town’s population.
Dort says the workshop was well-received, with a great discussion.
“Most of the learners already knew me, and most of them knew each other, which made sharing personal information and participating in discussions much easier.”
Dort led discussions on the importance of asking questions during medical appointments, strategies for preparing questions in advance, and local health care resources such as TeleHealth services and pharmacy-based primary care clinics.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with learners reporting increased confidence in managing their health and communicating with health care providers. Many expressed a commitment to taking a more active role in their health care journey.
Building on the success of the first workshop, GALA will run two more ABC Health Matters workshops in the coming months – one called Organizing Care and one called Health Caregiving.
“With so many of our learners taking care of elderly spouses, some with dementia or cancer, we are looking forward to the caregiving session,” says Dort. “These sessions are a great fit given our demographic and the health care challenges in our area.”
ABC Health Matters is presented with support from The Alexion Charitable Foundation. To learn more about the program, to host a workshop in your community, or access free resources, visit abchealthmatters.ca.
