Audrey Riffenburgh Ph.D. has over 20 years of experience in health literacy and plain language. Dr. Riffenburgh is President of Health Literacy Connections (formerly Plain Language Works). Her firm helps healthcare systems, health-related agencies, and companies use health literacy and plain language to improve audience communication and meet organizational goals.
Dr. Riffenburgh is widely recognized for her many health literacy accomplishments. This includes being the Senior Health Literacy Specialist at an academic health system where she led efforts to improve communication and access for patients and families and become a more “health literate organization.”
Dr. Riffenburgh often speaks at conferences and workshops, co-authored several publications, and has served on national panels and committees. She earned a Ph.D. in Health Communication, focusing on the implementation of health literacy initiatives in healthcare organizations.
In this podcast, Audrey Riffenburgh talks with Helen Osborne about:
- Health Literacy Listening Tour. A quick, focused way to get the “lay of the land” within your organization so as to develop meaningful health literacy programs.
- Practical tips that include meeting with key leaders, framing health literacy as an important issue, and learning about organizational goals, strategies, and needs.
- Using this opportunity to build goodwill, raise awareness about your program, develop allies, create networks, and develop projects with measurable outcomes.
More Ways to Learn:
- Health Literacy Connections. Get connected toexpert health literacy and plain language consulting, coaching, and training. You can also contact Audrey Riffenburgh directly at ar@healthliteracyconnections.com
- Building Health Literate Organizations: A Guidebook to Achieving Organizational Change, by Abrams MA, Kurtz-Rossi S, Riffenburgh A, Savage BA, 2014.
- “10 Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations,”a discussion paper by Cindy Brach et al from the Institute of Medicine’s Health Literacy Roundtable, 2012.
- Health Literacy Data Map, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- “Assessing Readability: Rules for Playing the Numbers Game,”by Helen Osborne. An interview with Audrey Riffenburgh, published in the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, 2000.
Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, Second Edition (Updated 2018), by Helen Osborne. Relevant chapters include: 4, 27.
Read a transcript of this podcast.
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