Category: We Heart Health Literacy

Let’s Talk Periods

Posted on by CommunicateHealth

Doodles in the background say, “Aunt Flo’s in town!” and “Guess it’s that time of the month!” A doodle in the foreground says, “Just call it a period — period.”

Here at We ❤ Health Literacy Headquarters, periods are our second favorite punctuation mark. (You’ll always be first in our heart, em dash!) But that’s not what we’re talking about today. We’re here to chat about the other kind of period — the menstrual kind.

As you know, dear readers, we always aim to use clear and accurate language to talk about bodies — even some of those, ahem, less elegant functions — and periods are no exception. Check out these tips:

  • Stick to plain language words like “period.” “Menstruation” is a bit much, so just call it a period when you can. In more in-depth materials, where “menstruation” and “menstrual” may be need-to-know terms, be sure to include a definition. We ❤ this one from Planned Parenthood: “Menstruation — aka having your period — is when blood and tissue from your uterus comes out of your vagina. It usually happens every month.”
  • Skip the euphemisms. When you’re texting your BFF, feel free to talk about “a visit from Aunt Flo” or “that time of the month.” But these terms may not be clear to everyone, so we generally leave them out of our health materials. Speaking of which…
  • Know your audience. In particular, attitudes around periods vary a lot in different cultures. When in doubt, test with your intended audience to make sure your content resonates.
  • Leave “feminine” out of it. Equating periods with womanhood is not a good look. There are plenty of women who don’t have periods — because they are transgender, take certain medicines, or have a health condition like PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) or low body weight. And there are plenty of transgender men and non-binary people who do have them. Plus, gendered terms like “feminine products” are way less clear than alternatives like… wait for it… “pads and tampons.”

The bottom line: When writing about menstruation, choose clear, plain language terms that everyone can understand. Period.

Tweet about it: Let’s talk periods. (No, not the grammatical kind!) Check out @CommunicateHlth’s tips on writing inclusive #PlainLanguage content about menstruation: https://bit.ly/3vgg8RS #HealthLit

Using the Teach-Back Method

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
A doodle with cat head talks to a doctor doodle via video chat. The doctor doodle asks, “Can you tell me the steps to care for your cat head?” The other doodle says, “Sure. First I’ll do the hokey-pokey. Then I’ll turn myself around.” The doctor doodle responds, “Yes! That’s what it’s all about!”

As you undoubtedly know by now, dear readers, we usually serve up tips for creating health education materials. But putting health literacy best practices into, well, practice isn’t only about writing. And we know that for many of you, face-to-face convos are a big part of your work.

Teaching someone health information in person — or by phone or Zoom — gives you a key advantage over written materials: You can find out in real time if your audience understands the information you’re communicating — and then explain it in a new way if they don’t.

How, you ask? The teach-back method! It’s a technique that health care providers and health educators can use to check for understanding. And with the growing number of telehealth visits — where health literacy problems could be harder to spot — it may be extra important to have a solid strategy for making sure you’re effectively explaining health information.

At its core, teach-back involves 4 steps:

  1. Explain the information. You know the drill: Use plain language, choose culturally familiar terms and examples, and focus on the relevant action steps. If you’re explaining an action — say, how to find allergens on a food label — demonstrate it if you can.
  2. Check understanding. This step is key because we know that people tend to say they understand health information even when they really don’t. So instead of asking, “Do you understand?,” ask people to explain what you told them in their own words. Emphasize that you’re not testing them but rather checking how well you explained the information. Try something like this: “I know that was a lot of information, and I want to make sure I explained everything correctly. Can you tell me in your own words what you need to do after this visit?”
  3. Re-explain if needed. If your first explanation didn’t quite get the job done, explain again in a new way. Try writing down the information you’re giving, circling key information on a handout they can take home, or navigating to a webpage together.
  4. Re-check understanding. Ask people again to explain in their own words. Focus on whatever they struggled with the first time. You can get creative here, too — if you’ve showed someone how to do something, like use an inhaler, ask them to demonstrate how they’d do it.

The bottom line: For in-person, phone, and video health convos, teach-back is an easy and effective way to make sure people understand health information.

Tweet about it: This week, the @CommunicateHlth team is revisiting thoughts on a tried-and-true #HealthEducation strategy: the teach-back method. Check it out: https://bit.ly/3OQvus5 #HealthLiteracy #HealthComm

Missing the Mark with “Target Audience”

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
A doodle aims a paper airplane at another doodle and shouts, “Hold still! I’m trying to target you with information!”

Here at We ❤ Health Literacy Headquarters, we’re no strangers to the terms “target audience” and “target population” — they’re health comm bread and butter! But when you think about it, they aren’t such a great way to refer to… well, anyone.

“Target” sounds a tad aggressive, like militaristic terms we try to avoid. And it may make people feel they’re being, ahem, targeted — rather than prioritized, which is what we actually mean! This connotation can get especially dicey when you’re writing about historically underrepresented communities.

Of course, your end user may not ever set eyes on the doc where you call them your “target audience” — or anything else. But stranger things have happened! And as our grade-school teachers liked to say, if you wouldn’t use a word when talking to someone, it’s best not to use it when talking about them.

So how do we talk about the people we’re trying to reach in our internal communications, conference poster presentations, and the like? We’ve got a few ideas — and they’re super simple swaps!

Try this:

  • Our primary audience for the campaign is Black adults ages 25 to 44.
  • We’re prioritizing people with heart disease in our outreach efforts.
  • The social media content was very effective at reaching the intended audience.

Not that:

  • Our target audience for the campaign is Black adults ages 25 to 44.
  • We’re targeting people with heart disease in our outreach efforts.
  • The social media content was very effective at reaching the target audience.

The bottom line: Ditch “target” audience — try “intended,” “priority,” or “primary” instead.

Tweet about it: This week, @CommunicateHlth revisits why the term “target audience” is worth… revisiting. Take a look: https://bit.ly/3WfZwri #HealthComm #HealthLiteracy

Things We ❤: The Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: Five doodles stand under the words: “Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic is finally over, there’ll be no shortage of careful reflection and lessons learned for public health officials (and communicators!). But one major takeaway needs our attention right now: COVID is affecting people of color at wildly disproportionate rates.

Addressing this problem will require systems-level change — and that’s why we were excited to hear about the new Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. Established by President Biden’s Executive Order on Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery, the Task Force will make recommendations to help address health inequities related to the COVID-19 pandemic — and prevent these inequities in the future.

(While the Task Force is brand new, it’s getting off to an equitable start by sending COVID-19 vaccines directly to Federally Qualified Health Centers — safety net providers that treat underserved populations.)

Per the Executive Order, Task Force members will come from inside and outside the federal government, and will include people with lived experience of health inequity in their own communities — like the woman appointed to run it. Yep, the Task Force will be headed up by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of internal medicine, public health, and management at Yale University — and we just ❤ her.

If you don’t know much about Dr. Nunez-Smith, we’ll give you an idea of where she’s coming from in her own words (as quoted in the New York Times):

“Making sure communities hardest hit by the pandemic have access to safe, effective vaccines remains a priority. [But] what’s needed to ensure equity in the recovery is not limited to health and health care. We have to have conversations about housing stability and food security and educational equity, and pathways to economic opportunities and promise.”

The bottom line: Creating the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force is a step in the right direction — and we’re excited to see where Dr. Nunez-Smith’s leadership will take us.

Tweet about it: We’ve got a lot of work to do to address health inequities in the United States. This week, @CommunicateHlth chats about the new Biden-Harris #COVID19 Health Equity Task Force: https://bit.ly/2NnO3GY

Aiming for Equity in Health Materials

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: Above the word “equality,” 3 doodles of different heights stand on 3 same-size boxes. They’re trying to see over a fence to watch a baseball game — but the shortest doodle still can’t see over the fence. Above the word “equity,” the same 3 doodles stand behind the same fence — but the short doodle gets 2 boxes, the medium doodle gets 1 box, and the tall doodle doesn’t get any boxes. This way, they can all see over the fence.

Here at We ❤ Health Literacy Headquarters, we really enjoy talking about how health communicators (like you!) can help address health disparities. And since COVID-19 affects some groups far more than others, addressing disparities in our health materials is as urgent as ever.

So this week, we want to take a closer look at the difference between equality and equity. The George Washington University has a great resource explaining the difference, but we’ll give you a quick summary:

  • Equality means giving equal resources or opportunities to different people or groups. Think of a food bank offering a standard box of food to all of its clients.
  • Equity means giving each person or group the resources or opportunities they need to reach an equal outcome. So maybe that same food bank offers customized food boxes based on clients’ household size and dietary needs — and has a delivery service for folks who can’t physically get to the food bank.

How does this apply to health communication, you ask? Providing the same information to everyone, in the same format, doesn’t mean everyone will have equal access.

As you’re developing health materials, get to know your audience — or better yet, actively involve people from your priority audience in the process of creating your materials.

Then ask yourself how you can ensure an equal outcome for as many people as possible — especially those facing structural barriers or disadvantages. For example, depending on your audience, you might:

  • Create bilingual materials to help reach audiences with limited English proficiency
  • Partner with trusted messengers to boost your credibility with marginalized communities
  • Make sure your web content is accessible to everyone — that means considering things like alt text, keyboard navigation, color contrast, and much more
  • Use pictograms to represent key ideas in a way that’s accessible to people with limited literacy skills, cognitive disabilities, or other communication challenges

The bottom line: To tackle health disparities, go beyond one-size-fits-all communication materials — and remember that equal resources don’t always lead to an equal outcome.

Tweet about it: Equal resources don’t mean equal outcomes. So go beyond one-size-fits-all in your #HealthLit materials, says @CommunicateHlth: https://bit.ly/39suANW #HealthDisparities #HealthEquity

Image inspiration courtesy of Interaction Institute for Social Change and Angus Maguire.

Explaining mRNA Vaccines

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: A doodle wearing a messenger bag and a hat labeled “mRNA” holds up a COVID-19 playbook and says, “Delivery!”

Now that folks are starting to get COVID-19 vaccines, many people are eagerly awaiting their turn in line. But because the first 2 COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States are a new type — called mRNA vaccines — lots of people also have questions about how they work.

If you’re still getting up to speed on mRNA vaccines yourself, here’s the gist: mRNA stands for messenger RNA — and the messages these vaccines carry are like instructions for your immune system.

All vaccines work by training your immune system to recognize and fight off a specific germ before it has a chance to make you sick. Traditional vaccines use the germ itself for this “training” — either a weakened or dead form of the germ, or a small part of the germ.

But mRNA vaccines don’t have any of the germ in them at all! Instead, they deliver a small strip of genetic code (the mRNA) that teaches your immune cells to make and recognize a key protein — in this case, the spike protein on the surface of the COVID-19 virus.

Once your immune system recognizes the spike protein, it reacts just like it would to the actual COVID-19 virus — by creating antibodies to fight it off. Then if the COVID-19 virus shows up, the antibodies will be ready to stop it in its tracks.

To round out this feast of vaccine facts, try offering your readers few tasty truth sandwiches:

  • mRNA vaccines can’t give you COVID-19. Remember, there’s no virus in them — and the spike protein can’t give you COVID-19 either.
  • The 2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Researchers worked as fast as possible to get the vaccines ready — but they didn’t skip any steps or cut any corners. The researchers completed all the usual phases of clinical trials and gave the vaccines to tens of thousands of people, so we can be confident that they’re safe and that they work to prevent COVID-19.
  • mRNA vaccines don’t change your genes. You may have heard concerns that the mRNA in vaccines could stay in your cells and affect your DNA, but that’s not true. In fact, your body destroys the mRNA from the vaccine within a few hours after you get vaccinated. The mRNA shows up, does its job, and then it’s outta there!
  • Serious side effects from these vaccines are rare, and getting vaccinated is much less risky than getting COVID-19. It’s common for people who get the vaccine to get a headache or fever or to feel tired and achy for a day or 2 — and that’s actually a good thing! These are signs that the vaccine is working.

And while you’re spreading the good news about the new vaccines, remember to encourage people to keep taking other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 before and after they get vaccinated. It’ll be a while before most people can get the vaccine, so it’s important to continue doing everything we can to keep everyone safe.

The bottom line: Explaining mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in plain language can help ease people’s fears — and make it more likely they’ll choose to get vaccinated.

Tweet about it: Want to explain mRNA #COVID19 vaccines in #PlainLanguage? @CommunicateHlth can help: https://bit.ly/3bZ4y6i #communicateCOVID

Morbidity and Mortality: Just Skip ’Em

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: A doodle swooning on a couch says, “Oh, the mortality!” Another doodle points to a graph and says, “I think you mean the death rate.”

It’s hard to believe, dear readers, but the COVID-19 pandemic has been dominating headlines and newscasts for nearly a year. And that means we’re coming up on a year of being inundated with a lot more public health jargon than we’re used to.

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve covered lots of COVID-related terms (antibodies! hygiene! isolation/quarantine/social distancing!). And this week, we want to take it back to basics and talk about 2 terms that are public health staples. We know it might pain you (and your public health degree) to think ill of these words — but if you’re in the business of communicating to consumers, they really have no place at the table. That’s right, this is our PSA to health communicators everywhere: stop using “morbidity” and “mortality.”

“Morbidity,” as you probably know, refers to having a disease or the symptoms of a disease — it’s often used to talk about the rate of disease in a population, just like “incidence.” And in health comm, “mortality” usually means death rate — the number of deaths in a specific group of people in a specific time frame.

These terms are right at home in, say, a weekly CDC report for professionals, but they don’t belong in plain language health materials. And that’s okay! Because they’re both super easy to swap out — or even skip altogether.

Instead of:

  • The COVID-19 mortality rate is highest among adults ages 85 and older.
  • Cigarette smoking is a common cause of morbidity in the United States.
  • Vaccines will reduce morbidity and mortality from COVID-19.

Try:

  • Adults ages 85 and older are most likely to die from COVID-19.
  • Cigarette smoking is a common cause of disease in the United States.
  • People who are vaccinated will be less likely to get sick with COVID-19 — and less likely to die if they do get sick.

See? Simple!

The bottom line: In plain language health materials, skip “morbidity” and “mortality.” (If you’re up to your elbows in your public health master’s thesis, knock yourself out.)

Tweet about it: “Morbidity” and “mortality” don’t have a place at the #PlainLanguage table, says @CommunicateHlth. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3ibTUKC #HealthLit

Buh-Bye, 2020

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: A doodle celebrates the end of 2020 — and the start of a new year.

Well, we’ve made it. 2021 is nearly upon us, and we couldn’t be happier to usher 2020 right out that proverbial door. We won’t harp on what a difficult year it’s been — and in so many ways. Instead, we’ll focus on what we do best: geeking out about health literacy!

For health literacy lovers like us, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented communication challenges. And as we’ve all tried to figure out how to overcome them together, we hope you’ve found our content on communicating about COVID helpful.

So this week, we’re bringing you a roundup of sorts — we’ve put our favorite COVID-related posts in one place (broken down by category) to assist you with all your COVID communication needs. Check them out below!

And as we reflect on this wild ride of a year, we also want to take a minute to thank you, our dear readers, for being the very best dear readers. We ❤ bringing you this content, and we simply couldn’t ask for a more thoughtful, passionate, and helpful audience. So, thank you.

With that, we’ll see you in 2021.

The bottom line: We hope you’ve found our COVID-related content helpful this year — here’s to overcoming health comm challenges in 2021!

Let’s get this country vaccinated

Fight harmful misinformation with us!

Racism is a public health crisis

Know your audience

Help people stay safe

Grab bag

Tweet about it: #COVID19 has served up more #HealthComm challenges than we can count. So as we head into 2021, check out @CommunicateHlth’s roundup of posts to help you #communicateCOVID: https://bit.ly/2X0J4gI #HealthLit

User Testing from a Safe (Social) Distance

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: A researcher doodle joins a video call from the couch, wearing a lab coat and bunny slippers. They say, “Can you hear me?”

Here at We ❤ Health Literacy Headquarters, we’re always stressing how important it is to test your health materials with your priority audiences. And during COVID-19, remote testing may be the only safe way to do it. So this week, dear readers, we’re sharing tips for successful remote user testing:

  • Work around WiFi barriers. Don’t let a lack of high-speed internet limit your pool of potential participants — there are ways around this common hurdle! You can talk to participants over the phone and avoid the internet entirely — or send session materials via snail mail to avoid screensharing issues. If your heart is set on high-speed internet sessions, try bringing the web to your participants! Find recruiters who can safely open their facilities for folks to join remote sessions. Or work with local community partners who can help provide internet access and distribute testing materials.
  • Mix up your methods. Now’s a great time to explore unmoderated forms of data collection, like a video diary activity or unmoderated click testing. Or try a mixed-methods approach with moderated and unmoderated activities — this will provide richer data and help you focus live sessions on your most important research questions.
  • Create a cozy remote environment. When possible, let participants join from whatever device they prefer — whether that’s a desktop, phone, or tablet. Do a tech check at the start of the session to make sure everyone’s comfy with the format. And take time to build rapport before diving into the subject matter. With the right approach, you can bring a cozy-living-room vibe to the sterile void of Zoom.
  • Plan ahead for success. Talk with your team about how you’ll troubleshoot throughout the session — like extending session times to account for technology problems, having someone on deck to help fix any issues that come up, or prioritizing your discussion questions in case internet woes cut your session short.

As you conduct remote studies, be sure to keep track of what does and doesn’t work for your team and priority audiences. If you don’t get it perfect the first time, you can apply your lessons learned to future studies!

The bottom line: Social distancing doesn’t have to ruin your user testing game — get user feedback with remote testing.

Tweet about it: #COVID19 throwing a wrench in your research plans? Don’t despair! @CommunicateHlth has tips to set you up for remote user testing success: https://bit.ly/3gVvHHZ #HealthLit

Things We ❤: ProPublica’s Plain Language Reporting

Posted on by CommunicateHealth
Alt: A doodle holds a newspaper that says “ProPublica” at the top.

Here at We ❤ Health Literacy Headquarters, we’re always singing the praises of plain language. And while we’re usually blabbing on about how great plain language is for health materials, its uses are so much broader than that!

That’s why we’re so excited about ProPublica’s plain language reporting initiative. As part of a recent story about disability benefits in Arizona, ProPublica published plain language “translations” alongside the original reporting on its site.

To make the story more accessible to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ProPublica used an ultra-accessible version of plain language that goes even farther in terms of simplifying sentence structure. Because too often, stories about people with disabilities aren’t written for people with disabilities.

Reporter Amy Silverman, who wrote the series, said her team was careful not to assume that readers with disabilities would prefer the ultra-accessible plain language version. They recognized that those readers might want to read the original — so ProPublica offered both options to everyone.

And that, dear readers, is the foundation of effective health communication: always put your users’ needs first. Those needs might not be the same for everyone in your audience, and they might change over time, too. And you know what’s great for figuring that out? Testing your products with your users!

The bottom line: ProPublica’s innovative plain language reporting and audience-centered approach show us how to make journalism more accessible — and we ❤ that.

Tweet about it: .@propublica’s #PlainLanguage reporting initiative is a case study in how to make journalism more accessible, says @CommunicateHlth: https://bit.ly/3qEsNvw #HealthLit