Native and Distance Services Librarian at HSLIC and UNMH Health Literacy Task Force member Patricia Bradley recognizes that “Health literacy empowers both patients and providers to be advocates and facilitators in the provision of health care.” The UNMH Health Literacy Task Force, with members from UNM and across the Health Sciences Center serves in an advisory role to the Health Literacy Office.   Another Task Force member, Dr. Tamar Ginossar, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Communication & Journalism, and her graduate Health Communications class (Dr. Ivy Cervantes, Kaitlin Magee, Nathania Tsosie, and Jonathan Wiest) have compiled a search of recent research articles involving health literacy. 

The Latest Research in Health Literacy

Research in health literacy spans many topics and disciplines. Dr. Tamar Ginossar’s graduate-level Health Communication class and the Health Literacy Office have compiled a list of recent articles about health literacy

Johnathan Wiest, PhD. student, describes the intersection between health literacy and the class as follows.  “Students in the health communication class are connected to the topic of health literacy by exploring the depth and intersectionality of healthcare communication issues.  Specifically, the students have a targeted interest in health disparity, including disparity that would disallow literacy at a patient level.  The seminar has explored literacy from a unique dual perspective (that as it relates to the patient and provider) via analysis of topics such as disaster communication, end of life communication, information seeking behavior and access to care.” 

Health Literacy and Health Disparities

  • Coraline Stormacq, Stephan Van den Broucke, Jacqueline Wosinski; 2018. Does health literacy mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and health disparities? Integrative review, Health Promotion International, day062, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day062

Health Information Literacy and E-Health Literacy

  • Seçkin G, Yeatts D, Hughes S, Hudson C, Bell V. Being an Informed Consumer of Health Information and Assessment of Electronic Health Literacy in a National Sample of Internet Users: Validity and Reliability of the e-HLS Instrument. Moorhead A, ed. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2016;18(7):e161. doi:10.2196/jmir.5496.
  • Chen Q, Carbone ET.  Functionality, Implementation, Impact, and the Role of Health Literacy in Mobile Phone Apps for Gestational Diabetes: Scoping Review  JMIR Diabetes 2017;2(2):e25  DOI: 10.2196/diabetes.8045

Teach back and Other Verbal Communication Strategies

  • Griffey, R. T., Shin, N., Jones, S., Aginam, N., Gross, M., Kinsella, Y., Kaphingst, K. A. (2015). The impact of teach-back on comprehension of discharge instructions and satisfaction among emergency patients with limited health literacy: A randomized, controlled study. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 8(1), 10–21. http://doi.org/10.1179/1753807615Y.0000000001

Effective Written Communication Strategies

  • Kelsey Leonard (2017) Evaluating Patient Education Materials for Grade Level, Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 21:1, 87-94, DOI: 10.1080/15398285.2017.1280347

Effect of Health Literacy on Health Outcomes

  • Tilicia L. Mayo-Gamble & Charles Mouton (2018) Examining the Association

Between Health Literacy and Medication Adherence Among Older Adults, Health Communication,

33:9, 1124-1130, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2017.1331311

  • Bailey SC, Fang G, Annis IE, O’Conor R, Paasche-Orlow MK, Wolf MS. Health literacy and 30-day hospital readmission after acute myocardial infarction. BMJ Open. 2015;5(6):e006975. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006975.

Health Literacy and Population Health—New Mexico focus

  • Francisco Soto Mas, MD, PhD, MPH and Holly E. Jacobson, PhD 2018. Advancing Health Literacy Among Hispanic Immigrants: The Intersection Between Education and Health. Health Promotion Practice   First Published  March 22, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839918761865

Other Resources