RESIDENTS of Point Hill, St Catherine, and Hannah Town in Kingston are the latest beneficiaries of the Learning for Life Programme spearheaded by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Violence Prevention Alliance.

Under the programme, a Learning for Life centre has been established in each community to address the literacy needs of people residing therein.

Julia Manderson, behaviour change officer and programme facilitator in the Health Promotion and Education Unit of the Ministry of Health, said these two centres are helping the programme to reach an estimated 50 people with reading challenges. Learning for Life currently benefits 350 people through its other 11 centres located in Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, St Ann and St James.

“The programme is continuing its mission to empower persons by improving their literacy and other important life skills that would enable employment opportunities. While our primary target group is young men, the programme has evolved and now includes just about every community member with literacy challenges,” Manderson said.

She noted that basic literacy is a necessary ingredient in fostering health literacy and achieving optimal results from health promotion and education initiatives.

Manderson added that the hands-on approach to reading, using a highly individualised interactive computer-based software accessed via the Internet, has been helping many people to improve their literacy skills and develop basic computer skills.

She said the Hannah Town centre especially has been helping to foster improved community-policing relations in that area.

“The Hannah Town reading centre currently serves 39 persons. In Hannah Town the Learning for Life Centre is set up at the police station. Young men and women visit the police station to use the software on average four times per week, thereby allowing for regular interaction between the police and the community,” Manderson said.

She also praised the Hannah Town centre for its adroitness in serving the needs of 39 people with only three computers. She said “An average three to four hours contact is needed per week in order to see the desired reading results. It is therefore impressive to see that Hannah Town is making it work with the limited tools they now have.”

“The programme takes them from where they are now to where they should be, as we are aware that they have to learn in order to earn,” Manderson said.

She noted that the Ministry of Health and Violence Prevention Alliance are mindful of the need for more centres islandwide, especially given the many requests from parishes still without a centre. Manderson was quick to add, however, that the current programme capacity demands that the mission be taken in stride to ensure maximum effectiveness.

“In due time, the programme will reach other parishes, but we will also build on the basic literacy platform in areas of social marketing and behaviour change towards a healthier lifestyle,” she said.