Read / Write / Now Brochures

Note: The seven brochures are Portable Document Format (PDF) versions, which require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. You may obtain this software program free from Adobe's site and set it up as a plug-in or a helper application in your Web browser.

The Student Health Team was already up and running at Read/Write/Now at the beginning of the brochure project, and its members took a leadership role in its support and initiation. They began with an issue that had relevance and importance to their community: they had noticed and become concerned about the lack of good, clear, easy-to-read information about health for people with limited literacy skills. The Health Team members decided to do something to change this.

A survey was done of the learners in the evening classes to find out which health topics were of most interest to them. The Health Team did research on the health issues identified and brought the information back to the classes. Learners then selected a topic, analyzed and synthesized the information, and decided which were the most important messages to include in a brochure. The next months were spent writing, revising and editing the brochures. Finally, they were ready for publication. They looked wonderful -- printed on brightly colored paper and displayed professionally in a brochure holders like those you find in a doctor's office. They were distributed in the community at various locations, and were displayed at conferences and presentations. In addition, a local hospital has selected a group of eight of them to republish and display in their waiting rooms. They are hard to resist -- you want to pick them up and read them immediately.

The Brochure Project generated a lot of enthusiasm about health. It began with an important community issue identified by the Health Team, developed health curriculum based on the interests of the learners, incorporated language and literacy skills and was integrated into other areas of the curriculum such as math and science, helped the Health Team members to develop their abilities as researchers, leaders and peer educators, and resulted in the creation of something that helped to address the needs of the community. It was a project that the program as a whole could feel proud of, and it strengthened the foundation and motivation for ongoing health work at Read/Write/Now.

For more information about the process of creating these brochures, click here.

Back to the Health Curriculum Materials page.

Posted to SABES Web site: September 2000