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 Welcome! From frosty New England, I bring you warm wishes for a happy and healthy 2011. Given that I'd rather be inside than out at this time of year, I find winter ideal for working on projects, planning presentations, catching up with my reading, and connecting with health literacy colleagues from near and far. How are you spending these winter months? As always, thanks for your ongoing health literacy interest and advocacy. Here's "What's New" in Health Literacy Consulting. |
| HLOL Podcasts |
Health Literacy Out Loud (HLOL). These audio podcasts are a way to listen in on my conversations with those in-the-know about health literacy. Here are the latest HLOL podcasts:
HLOL #51: Using Comparative Performance Data to Improve Healthcare Quality. Barbra Rabson is the executive director of Massachusetts Health Quality Parrners (MHQP). In this podcast, she talks about: - How comparative performance data helps providers and consumers.
- "Expect the Best," a consumer campaign focused on healthcare quality.
- Strategies and tips for climbing the "mountain of mutual understanding."
HLOL #50: Communicating about Health with Older Adults. In this podcast, Dr. Carolyn Speros discusses:
- Special learning needs of older adults due to cognitive, psychological, and physical changes associated with aging.
- Strategies to communicate effectively, even when there is limited time.
- Respectful ways to assess and confirm that information is understood.
HLOL #49: Decision Support for Patients Making Life-Changing Choices. Jeff Belkora talks about:
- How decision support helps patients reflect critically on life-changing choices.
- Strategies and systems to help patients understand decisions and communicate effectively.
- Lessons learned that listeners can use in their day-to-day practice.
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HLC How-To
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Readability Goals. January is the time of year when many people set goals. In terms of health literacy, many organizations set readability goals for their written materials. The most common is a "reading grade level" goal. Honestly, I'm not a fan of using reading grade levels as the sole goal for written health materials. This month's tip looks at reasons why along with how-to alternatives.
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Health Literacy News
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I recently attended a meeting of the Institute of Medicine's Health Literacy Roundtable. The presentation that most resonated with me was given by Anand Parekh MD, MPH who is the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. He spoke of 2010 as the year when health literacy reached a "tipping point" in the U.S. He highlighted these 4 seminal events: 1) Passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, otherwise known as "health care reform"), 2) Dissemination of the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy, 3) Passage of the Plain Language Writing Act of 2010, and 4) Launch of Healthy People 2020.
The theme of the latest American Medical Writers Association Journal is health literacy. I am honored to be included with my article, "Writing in Plain Language: A Quick Guide from Start to Finish." Alas, the Journal is only available to members. Maybe you'll join. AMWA is a great association and I'm proud to be a long-time member.
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| Sponsor | |
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Until February,
~ Helen Osborne
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