Blogs

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Q&A: The Health Literacy Collaborative Summit IHA’s Stan Hudson talks with Wisconsin Literacy’s Michele Erikson about the organization’s next-generation event. By Stan Hudson, MA, CDFT Health literacy is a constantly changing and expanding field, and the same is true of the organizations and events that support its evolution. As the new director of professional development and training for the Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) — and the former director of health literacy at Wisconsin Literacy — I’ve had the privilege of participating in this change and working with some of health literacy’s brightest lights. ...
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The Health Fluency Project How two Harvard students are increasing the health literacy and communication skills of non-native English speakers to improve health outcomes By Beier Nelson Student, Harvard College and Aditya Tummala Student, Harvard College More than 25 million people in the United States, or 8 percent of the nation’s population, have limited English proficiency ( LEP ), meaning that they do not speak English as their primary language and have a limited ability to read, write, speak, and understand English. Individuals with such language barriers suffer substantially worse health outcomes than their fluent counterparts, including ...
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What Is Cultural Humility, and How Does It Support Health Literacy? By Annaleise Tripp , MPH Candidate Do you ever think about what makes people different and stand out from each other? You might think about someone’s haircut or outfit, the language they speak, their accent, or maybe where they live and work. These can all be reflections of someone’s cultural background. Our lives are shaped by culture . Culture refers to shared beliefs, values, and ideas, but also refers to shared racial or ethnic backgrounds, languages and communication, geographic locations, or traditions and customs. Culture plays a significant role in how ...
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Explained: AI + Health Literacy Will Large Language Models Ever Really Be Trustworthy Enough for Health Literacy? An Artificial Intelligence Practitioner’s Perspective on Trustworthiness and Responsibility, Part 4 By Temese Szalai | December 7, 2023 Read more in the series: Part 1 | Can — and Should — We Trust Large Language Models for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: November 28, 2023 Part 2 | How Reliable Are Large Language Models for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: November 30, 2023 Part 3 | When LLMs May Not Be Appropriate for Health Literacy | Publish Date: December 5, 2023 In our last post in this series, ...
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Explained: AI + Health Literacy When Large Language Models May Not Be Appropriate for Health Literacy An Artificial Intelligence Practitioner’s Perspective on Trustworthiness and Responsibility, Part 3 By Temese Szalai | December 5, 2023 Read more in the series: Part 1 | Can — and Should — We Trust Large Language Models for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: November 28, 2023 Part 2 | How Reliable Are Large Language Models for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: November 30, 2023 Part 4 | Will LLMs Ever Really Be Trustworthy Enough for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: December 7, 2023 This post is the third in a series ...
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Explained: AI + Health Literacy How Reliable Are Large Language Models for Health Literacy? An Artificial Intelligence Practitioner’s Perspective on Trustworthiness and Responsibility, Part 2 By Temese Szalai | November 30, 2023 Read more in the series: Part 1 | Can — and Should — We Trust Large Language Models for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: November 28, 2023 Part 3 | When LLMs May Not Be Appropriate for Health Literacy | Publish Date: December 5, 2023 Part 4 | Will LLMs Ever Really Be Trustworthy Enough for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: December 7, 2023 Today, we’ll continue our discussion of trustworthiness ...
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Explained: AI + Health Literacy Can — and Should — We Trust Large Language Models for Health Literacy? An Artificial Intelligence Practitioner’s Perspective on Trustworthiness and Responsibility, Part 1 By Temese Szalai | November 28, 2023 Read more in the series: Part 2 | How Reliable Are LLMs for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: November 30, 2023 Part 3 | When LLMs May Not Be Appropriate for Health Literacy | Publish Date: December 5, 2023 Part 4 | Will LLMs Ever Really Be Trustworthy Enough for Health Literacy? | Publish Date: December 7, 2023 Since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, there’s been a ...
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Improving Organizational Health Literacy: A Systemic Approach for Fighting Workplace Burnout By Somkene Igboanugo , MD, MSc, PhD Burnout among healthcare practitioners (HCPs) is a significant issue within healthcare. Current trends show that HCP burnout has worsened globally. 1, 2 For example, in Canada, worrying data from the Ontario Medical Association in 2021 show that 73% of the 2,649 doctors surveyed expressed varying degrees of burnout, up from the 66% reported in 2020. Similarly, other health professions are experiencing high rates of burnout; for example, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union in 2022 reported severe burnout in ...
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October is Health Literacy Month by Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L October is Health Literacy Month. This annual event is a time when organizations and individuals worldwide raise awareness about the importance of understandable health information. The idea behind Health Literacy Month is the same now as it was when I first proposed it in 1999--for health literacy advocates everywhere to speak with a shared voice about why health literacy matters. Doing so together not only conveys a sense of urgency but also can generate media attention when many people speak about the same topic at the same time. There are infinite ways to participate in ...
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Celebrating Health Literacy Month: 7 Ways to Raise Awareness by Julie McKinney , What is Health Literacy Month? Every October for the past 24 years, we’ve been celebrating Health Literacy Month ! Maybe it doesn’t come with pumpkins, fireworks, dancing, or gift-giving...but it’s an exciting month with lots going on in the health literacy (HL) community! Health Literacy Month is a way to recognize the importance of making health information easier to understand and act on; and to come together as organizations and communities to raise health literacy awareness and help make that happen. Many organizations plan special events or projects at ...
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3 Tips to Retain Patients in Health Literacy Education Programs You’ve recruited patients for a workshop, training, or class that teaches them about a health topic. The next challenge is retaining them. This article offers tips for keeping patients in your health literacy education program. How can I retain patients in a health literacy education program? To keep patients in the program , follow these three tips: Make it effective. Make it easy. Make it engaging. We’ll discuss each of these tips in turn. Tip 1: Make it effective Start by developing an effective program that meets participants’ learning needs. The ...
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Create Effective Health Literacy Education Programs for Patients Are you developing a health literacy education program for patients? We’ll discuss the meaning and impact of effective health literacy education programs for patients. We’ll review how to make a health literacy education program succeed. We’ll also look at some examples of effective health literacy education programs for patients. ( Note: This article doesn’t cover the one-on-one type of patient education that occurs during health visits. To learn more about that topic, see Tips for Clear Communication in Healthcare .) What are effective health literacy education programs ...
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5 Steps to Enhance the User Experience When you design a text-based digital health product, such as a website or an app, it’s a good idea to employ user experience (UX) design. In other words, do what you can to enhance the experience of your users. Why should I use UX design? UX design responds to users’ communication needs and preferences, which allows them to understand and use your product. In other words, UX design helps make your product effective. Follow 5 steps Ready to improve the experience of your users? Follow these 5 steps: Identify your goals. Identify your users. Learn about your users. Design ...
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Design Health Materials for People With Low Vision If you design text-based health materials, it’s important to make them accessible to people with disabilities—including those who have low vision. This means responding to their communication needs and preferences. Why should I make health materials accessible to people with low vision? When you design materials for people with low vision, you allow these users to understand and use the materials. Using this design approach helps make your materials effective. It may also be required by law. Design print materials for people with low vision You can use design to make print materials—such as forms ...
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Creating Effective Patient Education Materials by Tiffany Vo , MPH, CHES It’s typical for healthcare professionals to create patient education materials. This means that most people making these items are nurses, doctors, administrators, or health educators. These individuals are often highly educated, with a vast understanding of medical language. As a result, many of the patient education materials I’ve seen in my 10-plus years in education are text-heavy, have complex word choices, and are not easy for patients to understand. Yet materials for patients should be written at a 6 th grade reading level or below. Most patients and families are ...
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Tips for Clear Communication in Healthcare Do you work for a healthcare organization in leadership, administration, or patient care? Then this article is for you. It offers tips for communicating well with patients. We’ll define healthcare communication and look at some examples. We’ll discuss what makes healthcare communication effective. We’ll talk about the impact of effective healthcare communication. Finally, we’ll discuss some strategies for communicating well with patients. What is healthcare communication? Let’s start by defining healthcare communication. Simply put, healthcare communication is an exchange of information between patients and ...
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Tips for Clear Communication in Healthcare Do you work for a healthcare organization in leadership, administration, or patient care? Then this article is for you. It offers tips for communicating well with patients. We’ll define healthcare communication and look at some examples. We’ll discuss what makes healthcare communication effective. We’ll talk about the impact of effective healthcare communication . Finally, we’ll discuss some strategies for communicating well with patients. What is healthcare communication? Let’s start by defining healthcare communication. Simply put, healthcare communication is an exchange of information ...
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Create Effective Health Literacy Education Programs for Providers Are you developing a health literacy education program for providers? Then this article is for you. It tells how to create an effective workshop, training, or class that teaches providers about health literacy. We’ll review how to make a health literacy education program succeed. We’ll also discuss how to structure a provider-facing program on health literacy. What are some tips for making a health literacy education program succeed? Let’s start by reviewing how to make a health literacy education program—for any audience—succeed. Follow these tips: Provide accurate ...
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3 Tips to Create Evidence-based Health Literacy Education Programs Are you creating a health literacy education program for patients or providers? Then this article is for you. It tells how to make sure the program content is based on high-quality scientific evidence. We’ll discuss three tips for creating evidence-based programs: Use peer-reviewed articles. Assess website and social media content. Work with a subject matter expert. Tip 1: Use peer-reviewed articles It’s a good idea to use peer-reviewed articles. These are reviewed by experts in the field. The review process selects for high-quality evidence. Use many articles To broaden ...
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How To Write Effectively About Health Writing is a key part of health communication. Along with design, text is used in written materials for health education programs, public health campaigns, patient care, and research. It appears in print materials, such as handouts, posters, and books. Text also comes in electronic form, such as email and text messages, social media posts, website copy, patient portals, and captions. This article offers winning strategies for writing about health. We’ll discuss what makes health-related text effective. We’ll talk about the impact of effective health writing. We’ll explore some general strategies for writing about health. ...
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