Pro-environment policies require public support and engagement, but in countries such as the USA, public support for pro-environment policies remains low. Increasing public scientific literacy is unlikely to solve this, because increased scientific literacy does not guarantee increased acceptance of critical environmental issues (e.g. that climate change is occurring). We distinguish between sc...

Children's health and wellbeing is high on the research and policy agenda of many nations. There is a wealth of epidemiological research linking childhood circumstances and health practices with adult health. However, echoing a broader picture within child health research where children have typically been viewed as objects rather than subjects of enquiry, we know very little of how, in their e...

Introducing new digital literacies into classroom settings is an important and challenging task, and one that is encouraged by both policy-makers and educators. This paper draws on a case study of a 3D virtual world which aimed to engage and motivate primary school children in an immersive and literacy-rich on-line experience. Planning decisions, early experimentation and the experience of avat...

A novel intervention was developed to teach reading and spelling literacy to 5 to 7 year-old students using explicit instruction of morphology, etymology, phonology, and form rules. We examined the effects of the intervention compared to a phonics-based condition using a cross-over design with a baseline measure. One hundred and twenty children attending an English state funded primary school w...

From a holistic perspective, health literacy is a requirement for the well-being of entire populations. It moves beyond the focus on individuals to consider the role of organizations and systems. This perspective offers a context for discussing best practices in health literacy, and implications for research and policy development. This paper offers an overview of the best practices that were p...

Active provider choice by patients has become an important policy theme in western, countries over the last decades. However, not many patients and consumers exercise their right to, choose. Both health literacy and patient activation are likely to have an impact on the choice process. In, this article the relative effect of health literacy and patient activation on provider choice in the, Neth...

Literacy has recently emerged as a key item on the research agenda in medicine and public health. Researchers and practitioners are grappling with evidence that the reading ability of the average adult falls well below the reading level of educational materials, directives, forms, and informed-consent documents commonly used in the health field. The threats to effective communication and effica...

In this article we examine the tensions between current Australian depression policy directions and lay beliefs about depression as constructed and circulated through popular media at a time when mental health education discourses are also promoting 'depression literacy' [Parslow & Jorm, 2002. Medical Journal of Australia, 177(7), 117-121]. Drawing upon research into articles on depression publ...

International and cultural perspectives of health literacy help deepen the understanding of the global context within which health literacy plays an important role. Throughout this chapter, we explore the significance of health literacy initiatives, interventions, practices, and research for addressing health challenges on a variety of levels in the international and global context. More specif...

The first decade of democracy in South Africa has seen intensive policy-making in the higher education sector with a view to transforming the teaching and learning practices to be more consistent with a modern democracy on the African continent. In addition to addressing specific problems and gaps caused by the destructive policies of the past, the government has sought to ensure that the highe...