Reaching low-literate adults with printed nutrition materials

A receiver-assisted pamphlet featuring snack information written in the language of the target audience was developed using the language experience approach and compared to a standard sender-produced version written by nutrition professionals. Information garnered through free recall, main idea, content continuation, and signaled stopping statements suggests that the receiver-assisted pamphlet was more easily understood and the perception of personal relevance was improved, although content recognition and oral miscue analyses indicated that some of the wording in the receiver-assisted version tended to be more difficult. Subjects who read semantic differential passages gave the receiver-assisted pamphlet more favorable ratings on the neighborly, helpful, sensible, and informative scales. Semantic differential scores of white and nonwhite respondents favored the receiver-assisted version, indicating that the materials are appropriate for use with a racially mixed target audience.