Dr. Winston Lawrence knows a lot about adult literacy education and community health. He works at the Literacy Assistance Center (LAC), a non-profit adult literacy organization providing professional development and technical assistance to the adult literacy community throughout New York City.

In this work, Dr. Lawrence oversees the city-wide implementation of LAC’s Health Literacy Initiative. He trains teachers and health professionals about health literacy principles and strategies. He also facilitates partnerships between literacy agencies and health care institutions.

In this podcast he talks with Helen Osborne about ways to apply adult literacy principles to medicine and public health. Topics include:

• Why and how a literacy organization got involved with health literacy
• How teaching practical health literacy skills helps teachers and students alike
• Ways health literacy partnerships benefit both literacy and health programs
• Resources to start building health literacy partnerships near you

More Ways to Learn:

• Literacy Assistance Center in New York City, www.lacnyc.org
• Lawrence, W. “Advancing Health Literacy: Building Health Communication from the Patient Side.” J of Communication in Healthcare (2008). Vol. 1, No. 2: 182-193.
• Lawrence W, Van Brackle L. “Addressing Health Disparities Through Adult Literacy Education” Literacy Harvest (2007). Available athttp://www.lacnyc.org/resources/publications/harvest.htm#current
• Lawrence W, Soricone L. “A Conversation with FOB: Learning How to Teach Health Literacy,” Focus on Basics (2005). Vol. 8, Issue A. Available at http://www.ncsall.net/?id=995
• Health Literacy Out Loud podcast #15, “Dr. Rima Rudd talks about the health literacy burden in healthcare.” Available at http://www.healthliteracyoutloud.com/2009/05/04/hlol-15-dr-rima-rudd-talks-about-the-health-literacy-burden-in-healthcare

Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., is a general internist, health services researcher and director of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in Rockville, Maryland. Throughout her career, Dr. Clancy has been an advocate for improving the health care system. Her major research interests include improving health care quality and patient safety, and reducing disparities in care associated with patients’ race, ethnicity, gender, income, and education.

In 2009, Dr. Clancy was chosen as the most powerful physician-executive by the readers of Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician magazines. She was also awarded the 2009 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research.

In this podcast she talks with Helen Osborne about AHRQ’s new CAHPS Health Literacy Item Set. Topics include:

• Health literacy and how it relates to quality, safety, and patient care
• CAHPS Health Literacy Item Set: A way to measure patients’ experience of care and communication
• Vision for the future with health literacy as part of every practice

More Ways to Learn:

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), http://www.ahrq.gov/
• AHRQ: Health Literacy and Cultural Competency, http://www.ahrq.gov/browse/hlitix.htm
• AHRQ News on Twitter, http://twitter.com/ahrqnews
• Healthcare 411, a podcast series from AHRQ at http://healthcare411.ahrq.gov/
• Questions are the Answer, a campaign from AHRQ to help patients be more active in their care, http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/
• Osborne, H. “’Questions Are the Answer’ to Helping Patients Understand Their Health,” On Call Magazine, June 2008. Available at http://www.healthliteracy.com/article.asp?PageID=7707
• Weiss, BD. Health Literacy and Patient Safety: Help Patients Understand. 2007. American Medical Association Foundation and American Medical Association. Available at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/367/healthlitclinicians.pdf