Literacy Promotes Healthy Minds and Bodies

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by Lesley R. Chinn

More than 300 children and adults recently shared in the joy of reading during a literacy event at Kennedy-King College during a Chicago Read-In program, produced by Literacy Live!, an organization founded by Jill Ross, author of The Shenanigans Series.

The celebration was sponsored by the University of Chicago Hospitals Medical Center and featured many performances by local artists, dancers, storytellers, visual artists, cellists, and spoken word artists. The hospital also works closely with members of the South Side Healthcare Collaborative (SSHC), a group of federally qualified health centers that offer comprehensive primary care to all ages regardless of their ability to pay.

Although the celebration focused on literacy in the African- American community, U of C Hospital Medical officials emphasized how literacy plays a role in promoting good health.

If people can read and research information about the symptoms they have or that someone else has before they visit the doctor, it will empower patients to ask doctors informed questions that may concern issues such as what kind of medicine they should take as opposed to the doctors over prescribing patients with medicine, said Susan Peters, manager of the Office of Community Affairs at the U of C Hospitals.

Some patients, Peters said, get over prescribed with medication because they dont tell their doctors that they are either taking multiple prescription drugs or if they are allergic to a certain kind of medication.

Literacy is not just about reading, but it is also about taking steps to being proactive about your health. You want to be informed about what your health options are now and reading is a way for you to get knowledge and information to manage your life, she said.

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