The purpose of this environmental scan was to identify current knowledge initiatives and vehicles related to health and learning and the priorities of the AWG. At the same time, we considered the themes of the HLKC and the functions of the CCL.

The findings of the scan show that the fields of adult learning and health are generally quite separate. The findings also confirm the importance of the five AWG priorities. While the health and adult education fields each have their own important terminology, organizations, web sites, listservs, events, sources of research funding, and separate journals; there are limited cross-over points between the two fields on the five priority areas. In addition, there are remarkably few joint-knowledge initiatives and vehicles in the priority areas. The AWG is dedicated to building more connections between the two fields and, specifically, to build such connections for the benefit of those adults in the priority areas.

There is no shortage of knowledge initiatives or knowledge vehicles in both fields. We found an abundance of resources, research papers, articles, fact sheets and other important information on the many web sites included in this scan. Most of the web sites listed in the scan related to AWG priorities contain research reports, articles and studies that can be downloaded.

Both fields have a multitude of journals and many national and international conferences; for instance, several organizations in the health field focus specifically on gender, i.e. issues related to women’s health. Health literacy is beginning to become an area of research. At the federal government level, it appears there are more public dollars, support, and knowledge initiatives for health, in general, than for adult learning, but there are identifiable opportunities to bring the two fields together on far more initiatives than now exist. The fact that we found there are few organizations that explicitly link health and learning suggests a far stronger relationship can be built through the efforts of the Adult Work Group for the health and learning of Canadian adults and their families.

Further to these points, concerning the specific priorities of the AWG, there are definite disparities among these groups in terms of knowledge initiatives and vehicles. For example, there are many portals, web sites and Canadian organizations dedicated to HIV/AIDS, as would be expected. There are also a significant number of Canadian portals, web sites and national organizations dedicated to Aboriginal health. Adult Literacy also has some databases, and national organizations, as well as provincial and territorial coalitions across the country. What is interesting is that we found only one national health association that had a national program specifically dedicated to health and literacy.