Mini-review
Meeting the health literacy needs of immigrant populations

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2008.03.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

Immigrant populations are vulnerable to serious health disparities, with many immigrants experiencing significantly worse health outcomes, such as higher rates of morbidity and mortality, than other segments of society. Immigrants disproportionately suffer from heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, strokes, HIV/AIDS, and many other serious diseases. These health risks demand effective health communication to help immigrants recognize, minimize, and respond effectively to potential health problems. Yet, while the need for effective communication about health risks is particularly acute, it is also tremendously complicated to communicate effectively with these vulnerable populations.

Methods

A literature review using online databases was performed.

Results

Immigrants often have significant language and health literacy difficulties, which are further exacerbated by cultural barriers and economic challenges to accessing and making sense of relevant health information.

Conclusion

This paper examined the challenges to communicating relevant information about health risks to vulnerable immigrant populations and suggested specific communication strategies for effectively reaching and influencing these groups of people to reduce health disparities and promote public health.

Practice implications

Communication interventions to educate vulnerable populations need to be strategic and evidence-based. It is important for health educators to adopt culturally sensitive communication practices to reach and influence vulnerable populations. Community participative communication interventions are a valuable strategy for integrating consumers’ perspectives into health education efforts and building community commitment to health communication interventions.

Introduction

There are many significant health risks confronting the public today, including the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, HIV/AIDS, and other serious health threats [1], [2]. Effective health communication is needed to help those members of the public who are at greatest risk (most vulnerable) for these threats to recognize, minimize, and respond effectively to these potential health problems [3], [4].

Section snippets

Immigrant populations and health communication

Immigrant populations are among the most vulnerable members of modern American society for experiencing cancer-related health disparities [5]. Similar problems with high levels of cancer morbidity and mortality exist for poor and immigrant populations across the globe, particularly in low and middle-income countries [6]. Unfortunately, current efforts are sorely insufficient to provide immigrant populations with relevant health information to empower them to make informed decisions about their

Policy and practice implications for strategic communication

What policies and best practices are needed to guide effective communication of health information to vulnerable immigrant populations? First and foremost, communication interventions to educate vulnerable populations need to be strategic and evidence-based. This is too complex a process to be handled without careful planning and data. It is also critical for health educators to adopt culturally sensitive communication practices to reach and influence vulnerable populations. Community

Conflict of interest

None.

Acknowledgements

Thanks and appreciation to the special issue editorial team Dr. Gary Kreps, Dr. Linda Neuhauser, Dr. Lisa Sparks, and Dr. Melinda Villagran for providing insights, editorial expertise, and proofreading this review article.

References (42)

  • B.L. Chang et al.

    Bridging the digital divide: reaching vulnerable populations

    J Am Med Inform Assoc

    (2004)
  • J.A. Gazmararian et al.

    Health literacy and knowledge of chronic disease

    Patient Educ Counsel

    (2003)
  • R. Dowse et al.

    Medicine labels incorporating pictograms: do they influence understanding and adherence

    Patient Educ Counsel

    (2005)
  • G.K. Singh et al.

    Trends and disparities in socioeconomic and behavioural characteristics, life expectancy, and cause-specific mortality of native-born and foreign-born populations in the United States, 1979–2003

    Int J Epidemiol

    (2006)
  • S.J. Kunitz et al.

    Mortality of white Americans, African Americans, and Canadians: the causes and consequences for health of welfare state institutions and policies

    Milbank Quart

    (2005)
  • M. Haider

    Global public health communications: challenges, perspectives, and strategies

    (2005)
  • G.L. Kreps

    The impact of communication on cancer risk, incidence, morbidity, mortality, and quality of life

    Health Commun

    (2003)
  • G.L. Kreps

    Communication and racial inequities in health care

    Am Behav Scientist

    (2005)
  • J. Ferlay et al.

    GLOBOCAN 2002: cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide

    IARC Cancer Base

    (2004)
  • S.B. Thomas et al.

    Health disparities: the importance of culture and health communication

    Am J Public Health

    (2004)
  • C.M. Ashton et al.

    Racial and ethnic disparities in the use of health services

    J Gen Int Med

    (2003)
  • H.P. Freeman

    Poverty, culture, and social injustice: determinants of cancer disparities

    CA: Cancer J Clin

    (2004)
  • G.L. Kreps

    Communicating to promote justice in the modern health care system

    J Health Commun

    (1996)
  • G.L. Kreps

    Disseminating relevant information to underserved audiences: Implications from the Digital Divide Pilot Projects

    J Med Libr Assoc

    (2005)
  • Institute of Medicine

    Unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care

    (2002)
  • D.R. Lannin et al.

    Influence of socioeconomic and cultural factors on racial differences in late-stage presentation of breast cancer

    J Am Med Assoc

    (1998)
  • G.L. Kreps

    Health communication and the elderly

    World Commun

    (1986)
  • L.D. Chew et al.

    Brief questions to identify patients with inadequate health literacy

    Fam Med

    (2004)
  • L.R. Hardin

    Counseling patients with low health literacy

    Am J Health-Syst Pharm

    (2005)
  • Kreps GL. One size does not fit all: adapting communication to the needs and literacy levels of individuals. Ann Fam...
  • Cited by (224)

    • Health-related information needs and preferences for information of individuals with cardiovascular disease from underserved populations: A systematic review

      2022, Patient Education and Counseling
      Citation Excerpt :

      This allows individuals to have the knowledge about information that could help them to cope with the CVD, so they can make a more appropriate decision of their learning needs. It is also important to assess other characteristics and skill of these patients, including their culture and language skills, their beliefs, attitudes and values, and self-efficacy levels, their motivations to seek health information, and their preferred communication channels [108]. Some strategies that could work include use of familiar images and examples culturally adapted, involve family members and key members of their community, and use multiple ways to deliver important messages.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text