Accessible information and health communication: a comparative analysis of H1N1 and COVID-19 health communication and outcomes in Indigenous communities. — The Association Specialists
  1. Schedule
  2. SESSION 1: Language planning and policy A
  3. Accessible information and health communication: a comparative analysis of H1N1 and COVID-19 health communication and outcomes in Indigenous communities.

Accessible information and health communication: a comparative analysis of H1N1 and COVID-19 health communication and outcomes in Indigenous communities. (20295)

Cassandra Wright-Dole 1 2
  1. Easy English 4 U, Kangaroo Flat, VICTORIA, Australia
  2. Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia

This paper explores the need for Easy English in health communication to mitigate poor health outcomes faced by those with low literacy ability due to linguicism. Linguistic discrimination extends beyond overt discrimination against those who speak another language (Skutnabb-Kangas 1986, 45), as those who speak the dominant language can not comply with expected linguistic capabilities—such as reading ability (Dovchin 2020, 774). Easy English is a written format of accessible information aimed at those with low literacy independent of cause (Basterfield 2019, 16). Existing research has found a significant link between low literacy and poor health outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations such as those who are Indigenous or have a disability (Keating 2015, 133). Health literacy is an important aspect of health communication because it is how an individual identifies, understands and utilises information meaningfully and is a key determinant of health outcomes (Berry 2006, 4). Thus, complex information and low literacy are two factors that can significantly reduce the effectiveness of health communication. Using a casual-comparative analysis approach, this research investigates the relationship between the availability of accessible information and health outcomes in Indigenous communities during the COVID-19 pandemic against the outcomes of the H1N1 pandemic in 2009/2010. Findings demonstrated a direct correlation between the availability of accessible information and compliance with health directives and subsequent health outcomes of each pandemic. This finding was further supported by the decreased uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination, which coincided with reduced availability of accessible information (Li et al. 2022). These findings support that increasing the availability of accessible information to those with low literacy can significantly improve health communication and health outcomes among vulnerable populations.

  1. Basterfield, C. 2019. “Plain Language, Easy English. What Does It All Mean.” Intellectual Disability Australasia June (40): 15–18.
  2. Berry, Dianne. 2006. “Health Communication: Theory and Practice.” https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=316252.
  3. Dovchin, Sender. 2020. “Introduction to Special Issue: Linguistic Racism.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23 (7): 773–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1778630.
  4. Keating, Frank. 2015. “Linking ‘race’, Mental Health and a Social Model of Disability: What Are the Possibilities?” In . Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447314578.003.0010.
  5. Li, Heidi Oi-Yee, Elena Pastukhova, Olivier Brandts-Longtin, Marcus G. Tan, and Mark G. Kirchhof. 2022. “YouTube as a Source of Misinformation on COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Analysis.” BMJ Global Health 7 (3). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-008334.
  6. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 1986. “Multilingualism and the Education of Minority Children.” In Linguicism Rules in Education, Parts 1-3, edited by R. Phillipson and T. Skutnabb-Kangas, 42–72. Roskilde: Roskilde University.