In May, Professor Linda Neuhauser and Eve Wen-Jing Lee of Health Research for Action (HRA), and Professor Jingsu Mao on behalf of the Changzhou (China) Family Planning Association accepted the IHA International Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Literacy for the Changzhou Worker Wellness Guide. The guide, which is part of the Changzhou Worker Wellness Project, was recognized as an innovative collaboration across continents and languages at the 15th annual IHA Health Literacy Conference. “Our Chinese colleagues and our group at HRA were delighted to receive this award. Our project shows how the power of HRA’s participatory model can help people around the world improve their lives.”

The ongoing project aimed to improve the health knowledge of migrant factory workers in China, most of whom have only elementary schooling and limited ability to understand and act on information related to their health and life issues. To address this challenge, HRA helped its Chinese partners adapt “the Berkeley Participatory Model” to develop the guide––a process that engaged factory workers and other stakeholders to identify worker problems and solutions to address them. Participants created and tested the guide’s content and format through many iterations. Over 20,000 workers in 16 factories have used the guide, and it will be distributed to 1.5 million workers in the city. Researchers are finding high enthusiasm and improved management of health and social issues among workers. The project is being considered for national expansion.

More information on the Worker Wellness Project and Guide is available here and here.

Health Research for Action is a center of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. The center conducts research and provides consulting services in health communication, research, and policy.