Health Literacy: A Three-Part Series to Support Better Communication
Interested in how to better communicate health and science information? In Fall 2021, the NHC hosted Health Literacy: A Three-Part Series to Support Better Communication.
- Introduction to Health Literacy: Your Clear Communication Toolkit
- Health Literacy Strategies for Advocacy
- Health Literacy for Science Communication: A Tool to Boost Understanding and Build Trust
Introduction to Health Literacy: Your Clear Communication Toolkit
Clear communication tools are essential for anyone who works in health care. For those new to health literacy or if you just need a refresher, this webinar will provide an overview and ways to apply it to your work. You’ll learn the building blocks of health literacy, including:
- What health literacy is,
- Patient, provider, and health care system barriers to health literacy, and
- Evidence-based health-literacy strategies, to improve written and verbal health communications.
Health Literacy Strategies for Advocacy
Research shows that readers prefer simple to complex language and that they are more likely to read, understand, and act on information when it’s presented in plain language. This webinar will provide a deeper dive into the foundational principles of writing health-literate materials, with a focus on advocacy work. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:
- Create concise materials, break complex information into talking points, and organize your conversation to clearly communicate your message,
- Translate complex policy language into easy-to-understand language; replace or define jargon, and
- Use design elements to create materials that improve and support health literacy.
>Health Literacy for Science Communication: A Tool to Boost Understanding and Build Trust
People want and need understandable information about health and science so they can make informed health decisions—now more than ever. However, many science communications are written above a person’s ability to understand. This webinar will provide health-literacy best practices for communicating science, such as strategies to:
- Explain complex topics in an easy-to-understand way,
- Communicate with the public about the scientific process in a way that builds understanding and trust, especially when being faced with uncertainty and evolving facts, and
- Present numbers in a way that people can understand and use them.