Discussion: Health Literacy Research to Practice...and Back!

Submitted by Julie McKinney on Wed, 10/29/2014 - 14:17
  • 1380 Views
  • 2 Comments

Hi Everyone,

I want to invite you to a discussion on the IHA Health Literacy Discussion List. The purpose of the discussion is to explore ways to improve the collaboration and understanding between research and practice. Please see the announcement below.

Why is this relevant to adult literacy? Because adult literacy programs can be the settings for both research and practice in health literacy! Mostly, in my mind, they are important places in which to educate the public about health literacy, and as such they could give important feedback to inform research agendas. They also are a setting where teachers may need to decipher the results of research that is relevant to educating the public, but written in medical/academic jargon. Both of these are issues we hope to address in this discussion.

Please feel free to join the discussion on the IHA list, OR share your thoughts here. I'd love to hear from some adult ed folks!

Thanks,

Julie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Discussion:   Health Literacy Research to Practice...and Back 

When:           October 29, 30 & 31

Where:          The Health Literacy Discussion List
                        http://listserv.ihahealthliteracy.org/

Who:              Everyone’s invited! If you are not subscribed, join the list for free at the link above.
 
In the past decade health literacy has grown tremendously as a field of study and practice. Health literacy research findings are reported more often in medical and public health journals; and interventions are being implemented more often in hospitals, public health departments and community education programs.
 
But how well do these two efforts support each other? How can we help to make sure that research agendas are informed by on-the-ground activities? How can we disseminate research findings in a way that all practitioners can understand and use?
 
In this discussion we hope to get your ideas on how we can better collaborate between health literacy research and practice. This will be a good lead-in to the 6th Annual Health Literacy Research Conference in Bethesda, MD onNovember 3 & 4. (http://www.bumc.bu.edu/healthliteracyconference/)
 
Our guests will be Michael Paasche-Orlow and Michael Villaire, who organize the conferences dedicated to health literacy research and practice, respectively.
 
Please join us for this brainstorming discussion! And feel free to invite colleagues who may not be subscribed to the list.
 
I hope to hear your thoughts on this!
 
All the best,
Julie

Comments

Here are a few questions for teachers and program administrators:

  • What is your experience reading research reports that may relate to the teaching of adults, but are written for healthcare or other non-education professionals?
  • How easy is it to understand and apply this research to your practice?
  • What would make it easier or more useful?

Here's a comment excerpt from this discussion that's happening on the IHA list:

There have been important efforts to address the research/practice gap over the years...However, it's my observation that academicians and practitioners... move in very different arenas. Each group has different funding streams and operates in a competitive system which, for the most part, does not encourage or reward collaboration between practitioners and researchers. Also, I think there needs to be increased visibility for the important work that practitioners do in the field, including qualitative research with adult learners and other individuals with limited literacy. We need to design efforts that involve and benefit both researchers and practitioners.