Editor’s note: October has been Health Literacy Month, so I’ve often thought of Christopher Trudeau, who has contributed a number of posts to this blog over the years. Trudeau is affiliated with both the law and medical schools at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. He is also a member of the International Health Literacy Association’s […]
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently acknowledged Health Literacy Month with a blog post and reminder that the agency offers funding to researchers “to develop new evidence on how best to integrate organizational health literacy strategies into primary and specialty care, as well as how to spread health literacy strategies across ambulatory settings.” […]
Developing Health Literacy Skills in Children and Youth, a new book from the National Academy of Sciences’ Roundtable on Health Literacy,* presents the proceedings of a workshop held in November 2019, just a few months before the pandemic. How quickly things were about to change! The lack of mention of COVID-19 is striking, especially in […]
As summer winds down, stories with health advice for students about to leave home for college begin to appear. Engaging Patients has participated in this trend in the past, encouraging young adults to become health literate. Engaging with young healthcare consumers will help them develop knowledge and confidence, leading to improved health and self-efficacy. This […]
Evidence-based fact sheets are available for free in more than 30 languages from the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project. The project is the brainchild of Pooja Chandrashekare, a first-year medical student at Harvard Medical School, and now reflects the work of more than 150 medical students who have helped translate evidence-based information into accessible and practical […]
Editor’s note: Perhaps because flu is familiar and usually survivable, it doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. In “It’s Just the Flu: Father Recounts College Student’s Life-and-Death Battle,” WBUR’s Carey Goldberg observes that college students may be particularly vulnerable to conditions like the flu, which can quickly turn serious and even deadly. Living away […]
Words matter and can be confusing, especially when they denote different things to different people or in certain contexts. “Love” means one thing on Valentine’s Day and another on the tennis court. The word “point” conjures numerous meanings—a detail, the sharp end of a pin or a finger singling out something in the distance. To […]
Job 1 for adolescents is to gain knowledge and independence as they navigate an increasingly complex world. That includes gradually assuming responsibility for their own healthcare needs, especially as they prepare to leave home for college, work or other adventures as mature adults. High schools have long offered health or “sex-ed” classes, which should include […]
Editor’s Note: This week’s encore post highlights MedStar Health’s Simulation Training and Education Lab, which was recognized as a finalist for the 2018 Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement. The Sherman Award is co-sponsored by Taylor Healthcare and the IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute. The nomination period for the 2019 Sherman Awards is open now […]
I looked forward to seeing the published proceedings of a one-day roundtable on health literacy held by the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies in November 2017. I find the topic of health literacy compelling. As a writer, I know how challenging it is to communicate clearly about anything, never mind something as […]