Opening Plenary: Establishing a Broad Health Literacy Collectivity

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Overview

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This opening talk sets the stage for one of the conference themes – that of deeper collaboration amongst us. First though, it is important to note that our efforts focused on health literacy offer opportunities to contribute to social justice. Our emphasis on dignified exchanges and reduced barriers to information, action, care, and services sounds an optimistic note during these difficult times. This collaborative conference offers an opportunity to shape strong and broad partnerships and perhaps a health literacy collectivity that eliminates some of the traditional divides amongst us -- whether it be based on our identify as researchers, practitioners, or policy makers or based on our work focus on activism, disaster mitigation, health care, environmental health, occupational health and safety, or public health. We look at some of the downfalls of segregated areas of work, move to examples of productive achievements from collaborative efforts, and note opportunities to help shape new research, further enhance practice, and support new public policies.

Speakers

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Opening - Michael Villaire, MSLM, Institute for Healthcare Advancement

Dr. Rima E. Rudd, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Breakout: What’s Your Goal? Choose the Most Effective Numbers for What You Want to Communicate

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Overview

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This opening talk sets the stage for one of the conference themes – that of deeper collaboration amongst us. First though, it is important to note that our efforts focused on health literacy offer opportunities to contribute to social justice. Our emphasis on dignified exchanges and reduced barriers to information, action, care, and services sounds an optimistic note during these difficult times. This collaborative conference offers an opportunity to shape strong and broad partnerships and perhaps a health literacy collectivity that eliminates some of the traditional divides amongst us -- whether it be based on our identify as researchers, practitioners, or policy makers or based on our work focus on activism, disaster mitigation, health care, environmental health, occupational health and safety, or public health. We look at some of the downfalls of segregated areas of work, move to examples of productive achievements from collaborative efforts, and note opportunities to help shape new research, further enhance practice, and support new public policies.

Objectives:

After this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain why the choice of number types should be matched to communication goals
• List at least 3 communication goals and provide examples of number types that promote those goals

Speakers

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Jessica Ancker, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College

Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD, University of Michigan

Breakout: Numeracy Best Practices: When, Why, and How to Use (or Lose) Numbers in Health Materials

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Overview

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Health information is often complicated and hard to understand, especially for people with low health literacy skills. Health materials that are full of numbers can be especially confusing. That's why many health communicators are taught to use numbers only when necessary. But what does that really mean? And is it good advice?

In this session, you’ll learn what research tells us about including numbers in different types of health materials for audiences with low health literacy. You'll also hear what consumers have to say — in their own words — about numbers in health materials. And you’ll get practical tips to help you decide when to include numbers, what types of numbers to use, and when to leave them out of your materials entirely.

Objectives:

After this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain why people with low health literacy skills often have trouble understanding numbers in health materials
• Identify which types of numbers are typically easiest for people to understand
• Identify at least 3 best practices for using numbers when communicating about health
• Think critically about when — and how — to include numbers in health materials for audiences with low health literacy

Speakers

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Andrea Mongler, CommunicateHealth

Sandy Hilfinker, CommunicateHealth

Lunch

Plenary: Race, the Literacy Gap, and the Pandemic

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Overview

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By drawing from recent research and experiences as a community-engaged pollster, this session explores some health literacy barriers among African Americans while considering potential strategies for overcoming them.

Objectives:

• Discuss racial-group differences in how the COVID-19 pandemic is experienced
• Discuss racial-group differences in how COVID-19 is understood
• Discuss racial-group differences in the intent to adhere to public health recommendations
• Describe communication strategies for overcoming racial and ethnic disparities in health communication

Speakers

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Introduction: Michael Paasche-Orlow, MD, MA, MPH Boston University Medical Center

Plenary: Ray Block, PhD

Breakout: Helping Older Adults Bridge the Digital Divide

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Overview

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San Diego Oasis has taken 4,000 older adults who were used to attending one of 30 physical program locations to virtual participation over a weekend. Simona will share lessons learned in the transition, continual learning and improvement, and its newest pilot project: Bridging the Digital Divide, which is deploying a full suite of tech devices and services to low income, socially isolated senior population.

Objectives:

• Gain understanding of older adult technology learning preferences and behaviors
• Learn how the Bridging the Digital Divide pilot is addressing the seniors’ needs and wants in a holistic way
• Learn about the largest senior technology learning event, Oasis Get Connected: Technology Fair for the 50+
• Learn about the lighthouse concept of Oasis Innovation Center, shaping the future of aging and technology

Speakers

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Simona Valanciute, MBA, San Diego Oasis

Breakout: Consumer Engagement during COVID-19: Lessons Learned from a Transition to Virtual Focus Groups

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Overview

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Limitations for hosting in-person field testing sessions have required many to rethink how they solicit end-user feedback on health materials. With trial and error, we have successfully shifted this work to a virtual platform and are getting incredible feedback from our participants, including those with known health literacy challenges. We will highlight our journey of exploration and adaptation throughout the field testing life cycle, covering logistics, implementation, and session follow-up activities.

Objectives:

• Identify challenges and solutions for including individuals with health literacy challenges in virtual field testing sessions
• Describe the impacts of a shift to virtual field testing on resource demands, including budget and human resources

Speakers

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B. Alison Caballero, MPH, CHES, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Center for Health Literacy

Opening Plenary: Healthy People 2030 Health Literacy Definitions: Historic and Historical

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Overview

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Learn what is new, and not so new, about Healthy People 2030’s definitions of health literacy. Cindy Brach, Co-Chair of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Literacy Workgroup and a member of the Healthy People Health Communication and Health Information Technology Workgroup, will describe the process of developing the definitions and their implication for research and practice.

Objectives:

Attendees will learn:

• The new Healthy People 2030 definitions of health literacy
• How they build upon 20 years of health literacy scholarship
• How the definitions were developed
• How they affect researchers and practitioners

Speakers

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Opening - Cynthia Baur, PhD, UMD Horowitz Center for Health Literacy

Cindy Brach, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Breakout: The Double Whammy of Pandemic and Infodemic: Applying Health Literacy and Clear Communication Principles to Overcome Misinformation

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Overview

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The COVID-19 pandemic has put public health front and center in 2020 — and people's ability to access, understand, and use health information to reduce health risks is now more important than ever. But along with the pandemic, we're facing an "infodemic," which may be doing more damage than we realize. With all the false, inaccurate, and misleading health information that's out there, what — and who — can you trust? And how can we overcome information fatigue?

In this session, you'll learn about the psychology behind misinformation, why it tends to stick, and how people with limited health literacy skills can be particularly vulnerable. You'll also learn about strategies to cut through the cluttered information environment by applying health literacy, clear communication, and behavior change principles.

Objectives:

After this session, participants will be able to:

• Define the characteristics of misinformation and disinformation
• Explain how people — particularly those with low health literacy skills — make sense of health information and why they may be more likely to believe misinformation
• Identify at least 3 principles that may support health literacy or behavior change
• Think critically about communication strategies for overcoming health misinformation

Speakers

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Corinne Berry, CommunicateHealth

Lunch

Plenary: Reaching the Hispanic Community in Times of Crisis – Lessons from Por Nuestra Salud y Bienestar

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Overview

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In this session, we will draw from our experiences and discuss the key elements for effectively engaging Hispanic communities to access services and care for their health. Por Nuestra Salud y Bienestar (For Our Health and Wellbeing) is a private-public partnership established in Montgomery County, Maryland to tackle the health disparities suffered by Latinos during the COVID-19 pandemic. A crucial element of this project has been the communication efforts specifically designed to reach underserved communities.

Objectives:

• Describe the importance of going beyond linguistic competence
• Identify trust brokers in the community you are serving
• Describe the process for designing an effective communication campaign to reach your community

Speakers

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Introduction - Cynthia Baur, PhD, UMD Horowitz Center for Health Literacy

Anna Maria Izquierdo-Porrera, MD PhD, Care for Your Health, Inc

Gianina Hasbun, Latino Health Initiative, Montgomery County DHHS

Nora Morales, Identity, Inc

Breakout: The MRCT Center Health Literacy in Clinical Research Website: Supporting Clear Communications Throughout the Clinical Research Life Cycle

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Overview

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In this session the presenter will provide an overview of the MRCT Center’s multi-stakeholder initiative to develop and launch a Health Literacy in Clinical Research website for the clinical research community to use when creating participant-facing materials. The website itself will be showcased through a discussion of the principles of health literacy in clinical research, a review of available resources, and a presentation of case studies. Current and future efforts to support the application of health literacy through a collaboratively developed plain language research glossary as well as other resources will also be reviewed.

Objectives:

At the end of the session, attendees will be able to:

• Describe the application of health literacy principles throughout the clinical research life cycle.
• Access and use resources on the MRCT Center’s Health Literacy in Clinical Research website to develop participant-facing materials and processes that support participant understanding.
• Share best practices with their colleagues and team members to promote greater integration of health literacy best practices into their clinical research processes.

Speakers

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Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MPH, CYT, MRCT Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard

Breakout: National Council to Improve Patient Safety Through Health Literacy

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Overview

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We will describe the process by which a team of health literacy champions collaborated to develop proposals to The Joint Commission to:

1. Elevate health literacy to a National Patient Safety Goal, and
2. Certify organizations as Health Literate Healthcare Organizations once they meet pre-determined criteria

Objectives: 

• Discuss strategies to ensure successful collaborations.
• Outline three health literacy interventions organizations can implement to improve patient safety.
• Identify resources available to start your own health literacy organizational assessment.

Speakers

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Karen Komondor, BSN, RN, CCRN, Health Literacy Institute St. Vincent Charity Medical Center

Opening Plenary: Disseminating Culturally Relevant Social Media Messages

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Overview

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This session will focus on how to use research to create and disseminate culturally relevant social media messages

Objectives:

• Developing an understanding of the interface between individuals’ ethnic and racial experiences and their health beliefs.
• Gain awareness of the racial and cultural socialization of individuals in communities of color, as it may assist in finding culturally congruent ways to connect on social media and build trust.
• How to use research to create messages and locate your social media audience.

Speakers

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Opening - Michael Villaire, MSLM, Institute for Healthcare Advancement

Sloane Bickerstaff, MPH, Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Creating a Foundation for Interprofessional, Health Literacy Education for Health, Social Work, and Legal Professionals

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Overview

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Educating health professionals to recognize health literacy challenges and communicate clearly with all patients has been a national goal for almost two decades. Since the Healthy People 2010 health communication objectives made health literacy education a priority, issues of interprofessionalism, team-based care, and patients' social determinants have also become relevant topics for health professional education. This panel describes an interprofessional collaboration among faculty and students from schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, social work, law, public health, and library sciences to identify effective ways to provide and evaluate health literacy education. Panelists will describe the challenges in identifying evidence-based practices, evaluation methods, and differences in professional competencies and curricula and offer examples of how interprofessional health literacy education might work.

Objectives:

After this session, participants will be able to:

• Define an interprofessional approach to health literacy education
• List at least 2 challenges to an interprofessional approach to health literacy
• Describe at least 2 examples of how health literacy can be taught and practiced in an interprofessional manner

Speakers

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Moderator:Cynthia Baur, PhD, UMD Horowitz Center for Health Literacy

Panelists:

Heather Congdon, PharmD, UMB School of Pharmacy

Alice Horowitz, PhD, UMD Horowitz Center for Health Literacy

Sonia Galvan, MS, RN, CNE Harford Community College

Dominique Gelmann, MDc, UMD School of Medicine

Elsie Stines, DNP, CRNP, University of Maryland, Baltimore Office of the President

Lauren Wheeler, MLIS, UMB Health and Human Services Library

Closing

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Speakers

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Cynthia Baur, PhD, UMD Horowitz Center for Health Literacy

Michael Paasche-Orlow, MD, MA, MPH, Boston University Medical Center

Michael Villaire, MSLM, Institute for Healthcare Advancement