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HARC attracts a wide range of investigators engaged in health literacy research including those involved in a broad array of public health, health services, epidemiology, translational and interventional research activities. It is an opportunity to advance the field of health literacy and a venue for professional development.

Health Literacy Annual Research Conference (HARC)
October 21-22, 2024

Attend the Health Literacy Annual Research Conference (HARC) to share your work, learn from others and build your personal and professional networks.
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HARC 2024

National Academy of Health and Physical Literacy (NAHPL)
2025 National Summit

NAHPL Summit 2025

When: March 3-6, 2025
Where: Newport, MA USA
Details: Registration now open

 



Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA)
24th Annual Health Literacy Conference

Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA)

When: May 13-15, 2025
Where: Virtual
Details: Registration now open

 

 


11th Asian Health Literacy Association International Conference

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When: November 23-25, 2025
Where: Taichung, Taiwan
Details: Abstract submission open

 


Evidence & Health Literacy

Evidence & Health Literacy Logo

When: June 5-6, 2025 
Where: Berlin (Robert Bosch Foundation)
Details: Register here


Health Literacy Annual Research Conference (HARC)

Harc health Literacy Annual Research updated

When: October 27-28, 2025
Where: Virtual
Details: HARC 2025 information
Abstract submissions open

Conferences provide a venue for professional development and the sharing of research and best practices.
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Conferences

About

Health literacy is the ability to find, understand and act on health information. It is dependent on the knowledge and skills of health professionals to communicate in ways people can understand and on the health knowledge and skills of patients and the public to make informed health decisions. 

Improving health literacy requires action from multiple sectors. Use education and resources to improve your knowledge and skills.
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Education + Resources

Modes of administration in validation study
How the validation study was administered (e.g., computer-based, face-to-face, paper and pencil, phone-based or mailed survey)
 

Categorical scoring (yes/no)
If the measure uses categories (e.g., low, medium or high) to categorize responses


Criterion validity: Concurrent
The extent to which the results from this tool correspond to results from other health literacy assessments done at the same time (i.e., how similar the results are)


Criterion validity: Predictive
The extent to which the results from this tool are associated with an independent defined outcome (i.e., how well the results can predict an outcome assessed at a later time)


Health literacy domains measured
Sub-categories of health literacy assessed by the measure (e.g., Prose: pronunciation, Prose: Comprehension, Document, Numeracy, Communication: Speaker, Communication: Listener, Information seeking: Interactive media navigation, Information seeking: Document or Application/function)


Measurement style
Whether the instrument items are designed in the style of TOFHLA (modified-Cloze test items in which a person selects the most logical word from a list of options to complete a sentence) or in the style of REALM (word pronunciation)
 

Objectively scored or self-reported assessment
Objectively scored measures assess demonstrated performance; self-reported measures capture subjective self-assessment
 

Reliability: Cronbach’s alpha
The extent to which there is internal consistency among the test items, expressed with an alpha
 

Reliability: Test-retest correlation
If applicable, percentage comparison between scores on measure from the initial to repeat administration
 

Sample size in validation study
Number of participants in validation study
 

Validation sample: Ethnicity
Percent Hispanic participants in validation study
 

Validation sample: Race
Percent white, Black and Asian participants in validation study. Note: in some instances, authors have not distinguished between Race and Ethnicity

The glossary includes vocabulary and terminology used to talk about features and aspects of the Health Literacy Tool Shed.

About

The Tool Shed is maintained by the Center for Health Literacy Research & Practice at Tufts Medical Center. The Health Literacy Tool Shed was developed in collaboration with CommunicateHealth, Boston University, and RTI International. Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine.

Welcome to the Health Literacy Tool Shed. This site contains information about measures, including their psychometric properties, based on a review of the peer-reviewed literature.
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Health Literacy Tool Shed

About

Causal models and frameworks help us understand how health literacy barriers translate to poor health outcomes.

Causal pathways linking health literacy to health outcomes

Causal pathway model to explain associations between limited health literacy and health outcomes.

Health literacy casual pathways diagram

Paasche-Orlow, MK, Wolf, MS. (2007). The causal pathways linking health literacy to health outcomes. Am J  Health Behav 31(1): s19-s26.

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A framework for studying adolescent health literacy

Framework for a justification of studying health literacy in adolescents for future research.

Adolescent Health Literacy

Manganello, JA. 2008. Health literacy and adolescents: a framework and agenda for future research. [italics: Health Educ Res 23(5):840-7.

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Medical and public health views of health literacy

This model integrates medical and public health views of health literacy

Health literacy health views

Sørensen, K., Van den Broucke, S., Fullam, J., Doyle, G., Pelikan, J., Slonska, Z., & Brand, H. (2012). Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health,12 (80).

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A list of published models and frameworks linking health literacy to health outcomes.
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Published Models

About

Consider the following examples of other mediational analysis and how they may be applied within a health literacy context.

A selection of mediational analysis methods shedding light on the causal relationship between health literacy and health outcomes.
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Mediational Analysis

About

With increased availability of data, it is possible to examine in-depth the many proposed associations and pathways that may determine how low health literacy affects health outcomes.

Published Models

Mediational Analysis

Learn about conceptual models linking health literacy to health outcomes and how to test them.
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Refining Conceptual Models

Meeting the Challenges of COVID-19 by Expanding the Reach of Palliative Care: Proactive Advance Care Planning with Videos for the Elderly and all Patient with Dementia

Description
The majority of patients aged 65 or over, and patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), have never communicated their preferences to clinicians or completed advance care planning (ACP) documents. The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) acutely escalated the importance of integrating ACP and palliative care services into medical care. We aimed to improve ACP with an ACP Educator who promote ACP conversations with certified video decision aids in a model of care that is practical, scalable, and evidence-based, has the potential to mitigate communication barriers related to health literacy and limited English proficiency, and has the potential to improve the quality of medical care delivery to millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Principal Investigators

Funding

  • May 2021 – April 2022
  • National Institute on Aging

Publications

 


 

Community-based Design and Evaluation of a Conversational Agent to Promote SARS-COV2 Vaccination in Black Churches

Description
We collaborated with the Black Ministerial Alliance TenPoint (BMATP) of Greater Boston to develop a smartphone-based Embodied Conversational Agent app that provides education about SARS-CoV-2 and influenza vaccination, and motivates vaccination completion, following public health guidelines. We evaluated the intervention in a clinical trial involving 600 congregants from 12 predominately African American churches.

Principal Investigators

Funding

  • April 2021 – January 2023
  • National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

 


 

Testing a Medical Risk Communication and Surveillance Strategy: The EMC2Trial

Description
Nearly 10 million outpatient physician visits and 4 million emergency department admissions occur each year because of adverse drug events or serious drug side effects. A risk communication and surveillance strategy is needed in primary care to ensure that patients are adequately informed about medication risks and are taking high-risk drugs safely. In response, we assessed the effectiveness and fidelity of a primary-care based, technology-enabled strategy to improve patient-provider communication about drug risks, and to promote patient understanding and safe use.

Principal Investigators

Funding

  • August 2015 – May 2017
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Publications

A selection of past health literacy research initiatives.
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Completed Studies
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