The Cost of Convenience

Adult education tools have transformed over the years to become very Internet-based. Distance education courses represent one of the fastest-growing sectors within higher education and as an elected form of education for adult learners. Nontraditional students play an important role in the continued growth of this educational modality and are using distance education courses to further their knowledge, skills, and careers. Additionally, this tool is enabling adults who might otherwise be unable to participate in learning opportunities because they are place-bound to have access to a wealth of information and courses available through distance education courses. In regards to adult health, research has identified potential impacts on academic success including sleep quality and external responsibilities, such as work and caretaking. Nontraditional, adult students are increasingly pressured with greater external responsibilities that in turn may affect their sleep quality, creating a sort of chain reaction of potential academic obstacles. Raising awareness of these health issues and impacts is important in setting up adult learners, especially those taking distance education courses, with the greatest opportunities for academic success. This chapter explores distance education.

Health Literacy

The design of the U.S. healthcare system along with increasing expectations of individuals create barriers to health care. One barrier is limited Health Literacy (HL). This essential healthcare ingredient is often disregarded (Murphy-Knoll, 2007). There is debate concerning the definition of HL (Sorensen, Van den Broucke, Fullam, Doyle, Pelikan, Slonska, & Brand, 2012). Still, there is consensus that HL is necessary for quality healthcare (Parker & Gazmararian, 2003) and that HL deficiencies must be addressed. Limited HL independently contributes to poorer health status, greater risk of hospitalizations, and increased likelihood of mortality (Hanchate, Ash, Gazmararian, Wolf, & Paasche-Orlow, 2008; Jeppesen, Coyle, & Miser, 2009). Much is known about HL. Still, few advancements have been made due to gaps between what we know about HL, and the application of that knowledge (Ishikiawa & Kiuchi, 2010). The purpose of this chapter is to provide a HL overview and recommend improvement strategies.

Transformational Learning for Community Health

The qualitative research study explored in this chapter took place in a physical education teacher education program at a large public university in Puerto Rico. Study findings are relevant for similar programs in the United States. The research questions guiding the chapter are: (1) What can physical education teacher candidates do to help promote community health awareness? (2) What does transformational learning look like for physical education teacher candidates in a physical education teacher education program? (3) From the point of view of the university instructor, what are the challenges training physical education teacher candidates to promote health awareness? Data collection sources include: The researcher's journal, informal conversations with physical education teacher education university colleagues from different institutions, alumni questionnaire responses, electronic communications with 11 physical education teacher education program graduates, and documents (e.g., the National Association for Sports and Physical Education Standards, and the Physical Education Teacher Education Standards). The authors draw on transformational learning theory as a framework to inform the study, and narrative analysis plays a central role reporting study findings. The chapter includes the following sections: a theoretical framework section discussing how transformational learning theory informs the study; a relevant literature section that provides the definition, benefits, and connection with concepts such as physical activity, community health, and effective teaching in physical education; a qualitative methodology section that describes the study setting and participants; data collection sources and data analysis procedures; a study findings section that is organized by research questions; an implications for practice section; and conclusion.

Building a Psychometric Instrument and Data Collection Checklist for Healthy Aging Initiatives

Instrument design should consider the measurement of constructs that are directly linked to how well the data is generated and subsequently measured and assessed. We need sufficient instruments and archival data that will solve problems for the improvement of human life, inclusive of health-related issues. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the methodological approaches the psychometrician reviewed in order to determine if a need existed to create an adequate, effective, and robust instrument, or if the current primary and/or archival data would be adequate for the study related to healthy aging. The intent of the researchers is to examine the relationship between instrumentation and data and to develop a checklist for instrumentation and data collection. A comprehensive literature review and a final evaluation instrument is constructed that may assist the researcher in the validity and reliability of instrumentation a priori and post-hoc instrument construction in the future.

Choose Health

What if instead of thinking of using devices to positively change health, people thought of using their minds as tools? The unfortunate thing with modern technology can be the dependence on a device to find an answer. People need to be more aware of how they can benefit from a health perspective by making a few positive changes in their lives, by using self-awareness as their device. By paying attention to their bodies and physical reactions to circumstances that cause tension, people can learn to deal with stress. Stress is a very common cause of a downward spiral to quality of life and overall health. Exercise, nutrition, and writing journals are proven ways to decrease stress levels. This chapter elaborates on techniques such as journal writing, exercise, nutrition, and spirituality that readers can use to reduce stress and choose to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Learning with a Curve

This feminist arts-informed study investigates “depression” as transformation in the lives of young rural women in Nova Scotia, Canada. The author facilitated interviews and zine workshops with four young women who experienced severe depression in their early 20s and remain “angled toward it.” Drawing from Transformative Learning theory, the author asks: How does lived experience of severe psychic suffering affect the “habits of minds” (Mezirow, 1978) of young women? By doing so, the author responds to calls for adult education research on mental health and the intersections between women's emotions, bodies, transformative learning, and the arts. The author addresses the dearth of research on mental illness and transformation and offers preliminary implications for Transformative Learning theory.

Community-Driven Health-Impact Assessment

Highly participatory local health impact assessment processes can be used to identify and encourage practices and policies that promote health. They also foster community learning that can increase a community's capacity to improve local conditions for a healthier community. This chapter examines a Community-Driven form of Health Impact Assessment (CHIA) practiced in rural Nova Scotia, Canada since 1997. Experience suggests that informal learning in these processes is often transformative; ordinary citizens learn to identify factors that influence their health, to think beyond the illness problems of individuals, and to consider how programs and policies can weaken or support community health. They learn that that they can identify directions for future action that will safeguard the health of their community.

Educational Research Narratives of Healing

In research, statistics tell most of the story. A statistical test reveals a trend between patients who use positive language in their writing and objective physical therapy measures. A correlation exists between patients who articulated a goal in writing and achieved that goal. Keeping a positive outlook and writing about it can lead to healing. When the authors conducted a research study, they discovered potentially groundbreaking implications for the fields of patient education and health education. They learned lessons and their findings will continue to educate adults about health issues. However, statistics don't tell the entire story. The field of narrative inquiry examines qualitative stories in addition to the quantitative data. In this chapter, the authors discuss what they learned about patient education, as well as the stories of the moments that made this research process a memorable journey.

Using Information Technology to Spread Awareness about Communicable Diseases

Over time, changes in lifestyles, surroundings, and presence of parasites in the developed and developing world has resulted in new strains of various communicable diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, etc. Even though the global average of diseases may be quite low, the concentration in certain countries is much higher. In developed countries, information technology has proved to be an indispensable tool to spread awareness regarding these communicable diseases; however, most developing countries lack the infrastructure needed to use these same resources to educate people about the prevention, symptoms, and treatment available. This chapter makes the following contributions: first, it outlines some of the critical challenges regarding the spread of communicable diseases. It then identifies and summarizes the various information systems strategies used in developed and developing countries. The conclusion ties these together and offers suggestions to further curb the spread of communicable diseases in developing countries.

Self-Directed Learning in Family Medicine

Self-directed learners are able to recognize their learning needs, set their learning goals, identify the resources necessary to accomplish those goals, implement learning strategies, and evaluate the results of their efforts (Brockett & Hiemstra, 1991). Self-directedness is a skill that many adult learners possess. In an age when biomedical knowledge is increasing at a pace never before seen in human history, being a self-directed learner is not just a necessary skill, it is a critical one for family physicians. This chapter provides a brief overview of several self-directed learning models and the characteristics of self-directed learners, discusses self-directed learning in the context of continuing medical education, and provides an assessment of family physicians as self-directed learners.