Language, Literacy and Healthy Development: The Work of CAPC and CPNP Projects

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Please note that this document was published by Health Canada prior to the announcement of the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada on September 24, 2004. Any reference to Health Canada should be assumed to be to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

By Pamela Nuttall Nason and Pamela Ainsley Whitty (2004)

Published by:	The Early Childhood Centre, University of New Brunswick
Project Direction:	Pamela Nuttall Nason
Editor:	Gail Taylor
Research Assistance:	David McCormick, Irene Jar Yee Tan, Lynda Homer, Rachel Diamond, Diana Lockyer, Kendall O'Regan
Design and Layout:	Mandy Wright and Dirk Lenentive
Printing:	UNB Division of Integrated Technology

The production of this document has been made possible with funding from the CAPC/CPNP National Projects Fund, Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the official policy of Health Canada.

Table of Contents

1.	Exploring literacy/health connections in CAPC/CPNP projects
	Introduction
	Purpose of this resource
	Practitioners supporting practitioners
	Literacy for the 21st Century: What counts?
	Literacy health connections
	Literacy outcomes for CAPC/CPNP Projects
2.	Literacy education and support: it's in everything we do!
	Introduction
	Ensuring access to information on health, parenting and safety
		Choosing program materials to match the reading skills of the participants
		Mediating print
		Highlighting key messages
			Combining talk, pictures and print
			Making posters
			Using multi-media
			Providing reading materials to take home
3.	Providing linguistically and culturally appropriate information
	Communicating in First Languages of New Canadians
		First contact in first language
		Interpretation for ESL participants
	Print materials in multiple languages
		Translation as one solution
		Limitations of translation
	Honouring First Nations and Inuit languages and traditions
		Context
		Print materials in Inuit and First Nations languages
	Cultivating healthy communities
		Negotiating Paperwork to access services
		Advice, advocacy and support
		Empowerment
			A voice in decision-making
			From consumers to critics
			Cultivating the confidence to speak out
			Children finding their voices
			Collective voices
	Supporting everyday needs: Healthy eating
		Cooking/community kitchens
		Reading recipes
		Shopping
		Learning about nutrition
4.	Literacy events, resources and programs
	Literacy events
	Book giveaways
		Province-wide initiatives
		CAPC/CPNP project initiatives
	Literacy programs
		Program models
		Choosing a literacy program
			Is the program a good choice for CAPC/CPNP projects?
			Programs currently offered reflect available training
		Oral language programs
			Parent-Child Mother Goose
			Rhymes That Bind
			Talking with Children in Your First Language
		Broad-based literacy programs
			From Lullabies to Literacies
			Parenting for a Literate Community
			Books Bridges
			Reading and Parents Program (RAPP)
			Come Read with Me
			Books Offer Our Kids Success (BOOKS)
			Story Sacks
			Parents Interacting with Teacher Supports (PRINTS)
		Parenting programs
			The Hanen Program
			Learning and Parenting Skills (LAPS)
5.	Connections and contacts
	Working in partnership
	Addressing common concerns
	Literacy websites
	Resources & Publishers

Acknowledgements

More than 100 CAPC and CPNP projects from every Health Region in Canada have contributed to the development of this resource. We are sincerely grateful for their insights. Their ideas and their words illuminate the pages of this publication.

Our gratitude also goes to the Project Advisory Committee. Each Advisory Committee member represented a Health Region: Nicole Lindstrom, British Columbia; Brenda Hall, NWT, Yukon and Nunavut; Judy Dube, Alberta; April Dahnke, Saskatchewan; Gail Wylie, Manitoba; Mary-Ann Meagher, Ontario; Debbie Smith, Atlantic Provinces. In addition, Anne Stenhouse represented The National Projects Committee of Health Canada. Their support and guidance, always given with grace and good humor, has been invaluable.

Project research assistants Dave McCormick and Irene Jar Yee Tan deserve special thanks for their superb technical skills and unfailing dedication to developing the on-line survey and analyzing data. Their enthusiasm and energy helped to carry the project through its more tedious moments.

We must thank Lynda Homer, Rachel Diamond, Diana Lockyer and Kendall O'Regan for able research assistance, and Tracy Breustadt for her secretarial support.

We also thank our editor, Gail Taylor, for her expert advice, tactfully given; UNB Imaging Services for their patient consideration of our concerns; Mandy Wright and Dirk Lenentine for their inspired graphic design; Glenn Langille for his careful proof reading; and, our colleagues, family and friends who supported us and gave us encouragement.