Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast

Doris Zallen, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Science Studies and Humanities at Virginia Tech. Her research explores personal, family, and societal issues arising from advances in genetic testing and gene therapy. Zallen is the author of two books about genetic testing and is developing an online tool to help people make informed choices about testing. Zallen […]

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Karel van der Waarde is an information designer based in Belgium. His projects often focus on medication information that is given to patients by doctors and pharmacists. Karel teaches about information design to audiences worldwide. He is active in many professional associations including the International Institute for Information Design (IIID). He also was part of […]

The post Discussing Health Literacy with an Information...

Cheryl Lekousi is the Executive Director of the Hearts & Noses Hospital Clown Troup based in Needham, MA. In her work as a clown, Cheryl is referred to as “Tic Toc.” Building on anextensive background in special needs education and early child development, Cheryl now makes clown visits to pediatric hospital units, memory care facilities for […]

The post Medical Clowns: A Dose of Joy for Patients of All Ages (HLOL #258) ap...

Christopher Pizzute, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, is a music psychotherapist who works in inpatient and outpatient services at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. His expertise extends to palliative, psychiatric, geriatric, pediatric, and neonatal care. Christopher is also a songwriter, artist, and video game advocate whose work now extends to exploring the benefit of […]

The post Using Music to Support Patient Care (HLOL #257) a...

Today’s episode is a re-airing of an important podcast first posted in 2009. It is my conversation with the husband-and-wife team of Cecelia (Cici) and Leonard (Len) Doak. The field of health literacy as we know it today builds on the strong foundation of research, practice, and advocacy that began with the Doaks. While both […]

The post HLOL #256: Len & Ceci Doak Discuss Health Literacy’s Past, Present and Future appear...

Adena Dacy, MS, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist. For many years, she worked with people of all ages who have communication disabilities. Dacy now is an Associate Director on the Health Care Services Team at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Her areas of interest include health literacy and access to quality care for people with speech, […]

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Viju Jacob, MD, FAAP is the Medical Director and Vice President of Medical Affairs at a large Federally Qualified Health Center in Bronx, NYC. His day-to-day work includes oversight of 12 school-based health practices, 2 family practice sites, and 6 school-based dental practices. Dr. Jacob also focuses on regulatory and policy aspects of school-based healthcare […]

The post School-Based Health Centers: Health Literacy in Acti...

Ted Hartwell is Executive Director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling. The mission of this Council is to generate awareness, promote education, and advocate for quality treatment of problem gambling in the state of Nevada. Ted is in long-term recovery from his own gambling disorder and has been advocating on this issue for over 15 […]

The post Gambling Disorders and Other Addictions (HLOL #253) appeared first on Health...

Cliff Coleman, MD, MPH, is a physician and international expert in the field of health literacy. His award-winning work focuses on improving health literacy and clear communication training for healthcare professionals through systems approaches, including curriculum design and evaluation. Coleman is Professor of Family Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of […]

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Cynthia Baur, Ph.D., is the Endowed Chair and Director of the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. Baur is widely recognized as a health communication expert whose work focuses on improving health literacy at the individual, family, community, and organizational levels. Prior to this position, Cynthia Baur […]

The post Putting Health Literacy Policy into Practice: How th...

Joana Andoh, MD, is an ophthalmology resident at The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Andoh has a long-standing passion for both the sciences and humanities. Her interests include social determinants of diabetic retinopathy, domestic violence-related ocular injuries, and geographic healthcare disparities. Dr. Andoh is passionate about using scientific and narrative writing […]

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Karen Foster is the Executive Director of All Out Adventures based in Massachusetts. Prior to being appointed as its Executive Director, Karen worked for this organization as a program leader. She has also been a 9th grade history teacher and school-based program administrator. Karen is certified to teach coastal kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding, and has experience leading many other outdoor recreation programs. Beyond all the...

Molly Lynch, MPH, and Linda Squiers, PhD, both work within the Communication Practice Area at RTI International. Lynch has over 15 years of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating public health programs with a focus on health literacy. She now directs RTI’s Audience Engagement Research Program. This includes using human-centered design principles to engage audiences in […]

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Rohini Khillan, MPH, has been working in the field of public health policy for over a decade in both federal agencies and large nonprofit organizations. While her focus is primarily on issues of aging and disability, Rohini has worked on a variety of topics that include access to care and socioeconomic disparities. Much of her […]

The post Start by Assuming Your Audience is Smart and Savvy (HLOL #247) appeared first on Health...

Cindy Brach was the lead for health literacy and cultural competence at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and co-chaired the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Literacy Workgroup. Brach led the creation of many important health literacy tools and resources including the AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, the discussion […]

The post Cindy Brach Talks About the Evolution of...

Aditya Tummala and Beier Nelson are Co-Founders and Executive Directors of The Health Fluency Project. Their goal is to use AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other technology to help dismantle barriers that prevent people from accessing health services. Tummala is an undergrad student at Harvard College studying Biomedical Engineering. His primary focus is on socioeconomic disparities that […]

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Rear Admiral (RDML) Paul Reed, MD is the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, the Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, a pediatrician, and a senior U.S. Public Health Service Officer. His primary responsibility is to advise the Assistant Secretary for Health on disease prevention and health promotion programs and policies. […]

The post Health in Context of People’s Lives (HLOL #244) appear...

Akila Muthukumar graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with a major in human developmental and regenerative biology and a minor in English. Muthukumar helped establish and lead a question-listing service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She also has done a lot of writing, including for the health and medicine website, STAT News. She […]

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Katie Leath MPH, MA, is Director of the Center for Health Literacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Leath is a passionate health communicator who brings years of experience in making health information easy to read, understand, and use. She leads a team of health literacy experts who create and edit health-related […]

The post Applying Plain Language Principles to Translated Health Materials (HLOL #2...