Abstract
Leona M. English, the editor, combines the writing talents of health educators who are researchers, graduate students, and the renowned adult educator Stephen Brookfield in a collaborative effort to bridge the gap between research and the community of those affected by health issues and chronic diseases. The authors highlight alternative research designs that allowed participants to provide feedback, and gives them respect by allowing them to voice their needs as part of the research process. Health care research outcomes are changed as a result of integrating adult education and health into nonconventional research designs.
The authors’ focus on adult education in health will be appreciated by graduate students in adult education, scientists, health care researchers, and professors, like me. Each chapter in the book can help inspire ideas for how to be a change agent as an adult educator. Some of the methods discussed are experiential learning, communityengaged research, autobiographical learning, and reflective practice. The book addresses several dimensions of differences, including women’s health, aboriginal health, indigenous knowledge, marginalized populations, students, and aging. The theoretical framework for teaching and learning activities discussed in this book was explicitly stated as combining critical theory and adult learning. Although it was not explicitly stated, the methodology employed by many of the chapters’ authors was participatory research, which is familiar to adult educators.
Thirty authors, collaboratively or individually, present research that weaves adult education and community health praxis (reflection on practice/action) together, based on their epistemology and specialization in the health profession. Each supplied enough information for health professionals to find some recognizable aspects and applications to their specialty. The authors approach their chapters from two perspectives—the learners and the teachers—as they attempt to bridge the gap between research and community. Additionally, they embed elements of training within the content to help teachers promote and apply their findings to community education. For example, they ground many adult education strategies for community development in real-world examples that provide a model for the reader to use in duplicating the researchers’ activities. Other means of teaching offered are through history and narratives that illustrate the cultural traps adult educators should avoid. These strategies create a safe space for readers to assume the role of both teacher and adult learner while reading the chapters.
In the second half of the book, I sometimes found that the reading became anticlimactic or less appealing. For that reason, I suspect that the very detailed information provided might have less meaning for readers who did not specialize in that area. The last chapters were the saving grace, cleverly promoting the book’s main purposes of making participants a part of the research process, interprofessionalism, and a reminder of the vanguard impact of each adult educator that supports community education. In the end, the larger message of urgency to educate the community regarding health issues overshadowed any anticlimactic feelings. A glossary at the end of the book gives a synoptic view of the essential concepts and strategies that allow easy recall. The book concludes with a biographical view of the 30 contributors. Overall the volume is jargon-free but may require the reader to familiarize themselves with numerous acronyms. Once they are understood, the content and design become clear as the authors bridge the gap between research, educators, and the community.
Beyond being an excellent review of adult education, this book gives those who teach adults about health issues in any capacity confidence and guidance from a theoretical perspective. Therefore, the book is not exclusively for health professionals in academia but strongly encourages allied health graduate students and all health professionals, from clinicians to volunteers, to get involved with educating the public. In other words, it is a how-to guide for anyone desiring to educate the community, in any capacity, on health issues.