Health Literacy and COVID-19 - Implications for the ABE/ASE Classroom

Oct 15, 2026

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Health Literacy and COVID-19 examines the communication gap between complex, sometimes conflicting COVID-19 health messages and adults with lower literacy who must make sound health decisions. It explains how limited literacy often coincides with low health literacy, contributing to poorer outcomes. The paper argues that adult educators in ABE/ASE can strengthen learner self-efficacy by helping students access and evaluate valid public-health information and apply it in future situations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Health Literacy and COVID-19: Implications for the ABE/ASE Classroom

Individual Health Literacy in Adult Basic Education

Research on Health Literacy Integration in ABE

Teacher Perspectives and Classroom Challenges

ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION WINTER 2023 | [http://doi.org/10.35847/MOgrodnick. IFeinberg.5.1.69](http://doi.org/10.35847/MOgrodnick. IFeinberg.5.1.69) | | | --- | --- | | | Research Digest | Health Literacy and COVID-19: Implications for the ABE/ASE Classroom Michelle Mavreles Ogrodnick and Iris Feinberg, Georgia State University There is a deep gap between how health messages are communicated and how adults with lower literacy skills can understand them to make good health decisions. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this gap with a plethora of accurate, complex, contradictory, and false information that was difficult for people at all literacy levels to understand; adults with lower literacy skills may not have both the general and health literacy skills to parse through confusing health information. Information about COVID-19 runs the gamut from individual health practices (wear a face mask) to public health concepts (herd immunity) . Adults with low literacy may struggle to understand and use basic individual health and public health guidance; adult educators can play an important role in sharing trustworthy and easier to understand health information through curricular innovations in their classrooms. Teaching students how to access and assess valid health information about public health topics can improve student self-efficacy and help prepare them to apply those skills in future situations. Individual Health Literacy in Adult Basic Education Adult basic education (ABE) is designed to help adults develop literacy, numeracy, and digital skills needed to succeed in the workplace, be engaged members of society, and take care of personal needs (Adult Learning Resource Center, 2022) . The curriculum for these programs focuses on helping increase understanding and ease when reading texts of various sources as well as helping individuals communicate about content. Additionally, the curriculum focuses on assisting individuals in developing practical and clear writing and numeracy skills, whether for work purposes or personal writing. A major goal in ABE is to increase student self-efficacy so that skills learned can be applied in many different contexts. Research indicates that individuals with limited literacy skills are also likely to have low health literacy, which is associated with poor health outcomes due to less understanding about medication and discharge instructions, using fewer preventive services, and using more emergency department services (Paasche-Orlow & Wolf, 2007) . Within ABE programs, as with health literacy, the goal to foster self-efficacy in one’s abilities requires tools to help them thrive in life (Santos & PaascheOrlow, 2019) . ABE classes and curricular content provide an important way to reach vulnerable populations and develop health-related selfefficacy within a trusted environment. Attempts to incorporate health literacy into the ABE curriculum have been made since the 1990s. More recently, research has examined how adding health literacy to the ABE curricula positively impacts students, Correspondence: [ifeinberg2@gsu.edu](ifeinberg2@gsu.edu) 69 teachers, and health equity (Hohn & Rivera, 2019; Muscat et al. , 2020; Sarkar et al. , 2019) . One example of health literacy in ABE curricula is students (n=90) who attended an ABE program in the Boston area and were invited to participate in a study where they received health literacy information in addition to the standard ABE curriculum (Hohn & Rivera, 2019) . Most students identified as African American or Latino and were between the ages of 18 and 35. The health literacy component focused on nutrition and had an in-class component; data collection included surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews over a two-year period. Students noted that the health information they received during their class was the first time that they were introduced to some of these topics, such as health-related vocabulary and the importance of h

FAQs

Why is health message communication difficult for adults with low literacy during COVID-19?

COVID-19 information included many accurate but complex and contradictory messages, and adults with lower literacy may lack the general and health literacy skills needed to interpret it effectively.

How does adult basic education (ABE) support health-related learning goals?

ABE aims to build literacy, numeracy, and digital skills and to improve self-efficacy, helping learners apply skills across contexts. It can create a trusted environment to develop health-related confidence and understanding.

What outcomes have studies reported when health literacy is added to ABE curricula?

Examples cited include improved confidence, empowered decision-making about nutrition, and enhanced functional health literacy and numeracy skills, such as understanding medicine and nutrition labels, plus greater ability to discuss health concerns with providers.

Oct 15, 2026

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