Addressing COVID-19 and Health Literacy Disparities Among Correctional Facility Residents Through Dialogue-Based Education.

Carceral communities face heightened COVID-19-related risks while simultaneously experiencing medical mistrust and limited access to health information and services. Health education programs that incorporate dialogue-based, participatory learning models have been shown to motivate health behavior and increase health knowledge in carceral settings. To increase health literacy and change COVID-19-related health behavior among jail residents in the United States, a local health department developed a dialogue-based education program centered around COVID-19 prevention, misinformation, and navigating health care systems. Dialogue-based health information sessions took place in person in a county jail. Pre- and postsurveys gauged the sessions' influence on self-reported health literacy and behavior intention. Overall, 595 residents collectively attended 43 facilitated discussions. Key findings indicate that dialogue-based education can temper medical mistrust, influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviors and increasing health literacy in a carceral setting.

Dialogic Health Education to Reduce COVID-19 Disparities and Increase Health Literacy in Community and Correctional Settings: Protocol for a Two-Pronged Health Education Program.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce rates of hospitalization and death for those infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Those facing social oppression, including people of color, experience heightened risk for COVID-19 and comorbidities, but are often mistrustful of governmental agencies and initiatives, contributing to low vaccine uptake and a reluctance to access vital health care services. Dialogue-based health literacy interventions may mitigate mistrust and increase access to health services and information, subsequently increasing rates of vaccination and other behaviors that reduce COVID-19 risk. OBJECTIVE: To improve health literacy and reduce COVID-19 disparities, the Westchester County Department of Health, in partnership with two universities, community- and faith-based organizations, and the Westchester County Department of Correction, co-developed a health education program for community members, correctional officers, and incarcerated jail residents in Westchester, New York. Specific objectives are to increase preventative health behaviors, positive attitudes toward use of public health protocols, full vaccination or intentions to vaccinate, health care information understanding, health provider care access, clear communication with health care providers, and personal health care decision-making. METHODS: Grounded in dialogic learning, the program entails training community-based "trusted messengers" and correctional officers to lead health information sessions in community and correctional settings. During the grant period, the program intends for 80 community-based trusted messengers to receive training from the Department of Health and will be expected to reach a goal of 100 members (N=8000) of their communities. Correctional staff with experience delivering educational programs will be trained to facilitate sessions among 400 correctional facility residents and 600 correctional staff. RESULTS: Pre-post surveys will assess changes in health behaviors, attitudes, and perceptions. The program has been administered in the correctional facility since February 2022, with information sessions expected to cease for correctional staff and residents in June 2022 and November 2022, respectively. An initial cohort of community-based trusted messengers began training in February 2022, and information sessions have been scheduled in various virtual and community settings since March 2022. As of April 2022, the two-pronged health education program has reached 439 correctional officers, 98 jail residents, and 201 community members countywide. Program evaluation findings will be released in future publications after study implementation is complete. CONCLUSIONS: Few studies have evaluated the combined effects of training-of-trainers (ToT) and dialogical learning models on behavior and health literacy. As the first known COVID-19-specific dialogue-based health education program that applies a ToT model in the community-based, correctional, and virtual settings simultaneously, this study fills a gap in current knowledge about health literacy and health behavior in marginalized populations. Thus, this evidence-based framework can remedy COVID-19 disparities while also addressing risks for a host of health-related issues at the community level, potentially serving as a best-practice model for future health programs. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/37713.

Adults With Special Educational Needs Participating in Interactive Learning Environments in Adult Education: Educational, Social, and Personal Improvements. A Case Study.

Previous scientific contributions show that interactive learning environments have contributed to promoting learners' learning and development, as interaction and dialogue are key components of learning. When it comes to students with special needs, increasing evidence has demonstrated learning improvements through interaction and dialogue. However, most research focuses on children's education, and there is less evidence of how these learning environments can promote inclusion in adult learners with SEN. This article is addressed to analyse a case study of an interactive learning environment shared by adults with and without special needs. This case shows several improvements identified by adult learners with special needs participating in this study. Based on a documental analysis and a qualitative study, this study analyses a context of participatory and dialogic adult education. From the analysis undertaken, the main results highlight some improvements identified in the lives of these adult women and men with SEN, covering educational improvements, increased feeling of social inclusion, and enhanced well-being.

Implementing a cultural competence training as a psychopolitical empowerment process.

The cultural competence training (CCT) of health care professionals represents a useful resource to face the challenges involved in health care assistance for multicultural populations. However, the traditional perspective has shown limited results, as it does not consider professionals in their contexts and avoids continuous assessment processes. In response to these limitations, we describe a model of CCT implemented by two professors of the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Seville in Spain as a psychopolitical empowerment process, and exemplified by the experience of the emergency nurses at the Virgen Macarena Hospital. This process adds the notion of power to traditional CCT and uses dialogic learning to: (a) state a mission and develop critical thinking; (b) take stock of the actions for change and increase the capacity of nurses to respond; and (c) motivate nurses to plan the future and take action. As a result, professionals become a learning community, able to develop a new professional identity and role, and can also implement actions for the transformation of health care settings.

La educación inclusiva: una vía para la integración / The Inclusive Education: a Way for Integration

En este artículo se presentan algunos lineamientos teóricos respaldados por prácticas exitosas que aportan una visión alternativa en el diseño de políticas educativas que potencian la construcción de una nueva ciudadanía; lo cual, al mismo tiempo, conlleva a la cohesión social y a la integración de los ciudadanos. Partimos de un análisis crítico de las medidas compensatorias que se llevan a cabo en España en el ámbito educativo y presentamos la educación inclusiva, destacando a las comunidades de aprendizaje como un modelo basado tanto en la igualdad de oportunidades como de resultados, que garantiza tanto el acceso como la calidad en la educación. De esta manera, argumentamos una alternativa para gestionar la diversidad en la escuela, que pone atención, fundamentalmente, en la equidad, procurando que todo el alumnado alcance niveles de excelencia y en la integración, como elementos claves para que los movimientos migratorios potencien el desarrollo humano.

This article presents some theoretical guideline, supported by best practices, to provide new insight into the design of educational policies that promote the construction of a new citizenship. At the same time leads to social cohesion and integration of citizens. We started from a critical analysis of the compensatory measures in education that are carried out in Spain and we presented the inclusive education, highlighting the Learning Communities, as a model based on equal opportunities and results, which guarantees the access to education and it's quality. We argue thereby an alternative way to manage diversity within the school, which basically puts focus on equality, by ensuring that all students reach levels of excellence, and integration, as keys elements of migratory movements to enhance human development.