The Health Literacy of America's Adults - Part 2: Marketing Educational Programs for Insurers and Integrated Health Networks

The second article in the series focuses on the methods and media for targeted marketing of key educational messages for insurers and integrated health care organizations.

Who is the target market for the educational program? What demographic characterizes the people you wish to reach with a preventive care message or instructions about health screening exams? And, more importantly, where are these people likely to turn for answers to the questions you wish to provide?

Begin by breaking down the media into four (4) categories:
1. Newspapers
2. Books or Brochures
3. Magazines
4. Internet

(Note: For now we ignore direct provider to patient communications -- that will be addressed in the article in the series).

Newspapers are frequently sited as a source for health information by adults with basic, intermediate or proficient health literacy. However, a significant percentage of below basic literate adults received none or very little information from newspapers.

Books and brochures are more commonly used by adults with intermediate or proficient health literacy, with over 50% of the proficient using this media source commonly.

Although, magazines are a source of information for adults with basic literacy, there is clearly a stronger preference for use of magazines by the intermediate and proficiently literate.

And, for all us computer/internet nuts, the real shocker is who uses the internet as a source for health information. Adults with below basic or basic health literacy use the internet infrequently or not at all. Adults with intermediate literacy use the internet some, however, the proficiently literate adult uses the internet as a source of information almost as commonly as books and brochures.