Publications and Reports

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2013. Oral health literacy: Workshop summary, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy convened a Workshop to examine research findings and discuss issues relative to health literacy and oral health. With low awareness among the public and health care providers about risk factors and prevention strategies for many oral diseases, Workshop presenters covered topics such as health disparities in oral health, costs associated with oral disease, and the relationship between oral health and overall health. CRI Senior Director for Health Literacy and Research Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., and CRI Board Member Kavita Patel, M.D., M.S.H.S., serve on the IOM Roundtable on Health Literacy.

• Read the Workshop Summary

Across America, 1 in 3 children is overweight or obese, but parents struggle with what to say in response to questions about weight.The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance and Alliance for A Healthier Generation jointly developed a research-based online guide "Weigh In: Talking to Your Children About Weight and Health." The guide helps prepare parents for family conversations. It provides practical information about seven real-world situations in which questions are likely to arise and tips for how to responsibly respond.

• View the Guide

Since 2003, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has tracked national trends in a broad array of measures of health care quality and access, documenting disparities in factors that affect Americans' access to health care and the quality of the health care they receive. As with health literacy, these disparities can prevent individuals from receiving the health care they need or prevent them from providing health care for their loved ones. Ultimately, the result is higher health disparities, disability, and death from preventable diseases. Understanding the nature and root causes of these disparities is crucial if all Americans are to experience the benefits of improvements in health care, including access to preventive measures and information as well as appropriate disease treatments.

National Healthcare Disparities Report, 2011 (AHRQ Publication No. 12-0006). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

• Read highlights from the Report

To enhance global understanding of the growing field of health literacy, the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Health Literacy commissioned CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., to develop a report on health literacy efforts around the world. In Part 1, Andrew describes health literacy work outside of the United States, including research, programs, and policy efforts. Part 2 of the report will focus on health literacy efforts within the United States.

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Theater for Health is a new form of theater developed specifically for the Arts for Behavior Change (ABC) Program developed by the CRI partnership with The Clorox Company in collaboration with the Boston University College of Fine Arts. The initial demonstration of the program was conducted in two neighboring shantytown communities of Lima, Perú, during October, November, and December 2011.

• Read highlights of the report

More people are surviving cancer treatment, resulting in a new area of clinical practice and research: post-treatment survivorship. To address the lack of consensus about how to prepare and present effective responses to survivors in post-treatment, CRI partner LIVESTRONG convened a meeting in Washington, D.C., in September 2011. The Essential Elements brief includes a description of the meeting and the outcomes as well as recommendations for next steps. CRI President Richard H Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, serves on the Essential Elements Advisory Committee, and CRI Executive Director and Board Member Jennifer Cabe, M.A., was a table facilitator and participant in the Essential Elements meeting.

• Read the Brief

CRI partner The George Washington University’s Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance released results of research that examined the readiness of primary care providers in community health centers (CHCs) to work with patients who have weight-related conditions. The number of newly insured patients who are entering the health care system with the Affordable Care Act is expected to significantly increase the need for obesity-related services at CHCs. The paper, titled “Improving Obesity Management in Primary Care and Community Health Centers,” includes the CRI Life Enhancement Program as an example of a program in place at CHCs that can serve as a model for others.

• Read the Paper

During a workshop held September 15, 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy explored ways to integrate health literacy into primary and secondary prevention. CRI Executive Director and Board Member Jennifer Cabe, M.A., presented “The Potential and Challenges of Highlighting Health Literacy.” This IOM publication includes the workshop presentations and related documents.

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CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., is the lead author of this discussion of how the growth of the health literacy field can benefit from alignment of key components, such as definition and measures.

Abstract:

Although the field of health literacy is experiencing tremendous growth in terms of producing peer-reviewed journal articles and attracting practitioners, the foundation of that growth is potentially unstable. Despite a steady increase in their number, existing measures and screeners of health literacy are not based on an accepted conceptual framework and fail to align with the growing body of theoretical and applied work. Existing measures are mainly focused on assessing what individuals can read and understand in clinical contexts. This leaves important factors untested, such as how individuals use information, and how health professionals and systems communicate with patients. This article outlines key elements of a proposed research agenda focusing on development of a new, comprehensive approach to measuring health literacy.

STOP Obesity Alliance's Essential Health Benefits Task Force Essential Health Benefits Recommendations
September 2011

CRI and 11 other members of the STOP Obesity Alliance comprised STOP’s Essential Health Benefits Task Force. The Task Force released  recommendations supporting the inclusion of obesity-related services in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ essential health benefits (EHB) package. The EHB package will outline a minimum standard of coverage required by all health plans offered through health insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by 2014. The recommendations were submitted to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and supported by a second letter to Secretary Sebelius from CRI President and STOP Obesity Alliance Health and Wellness Chairperson Richard H. Carmona.

• Read the letter and recommendations from the STOP Obesity Alliance Task Force
• Read the letter from Richard Carmona

Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance
June 2011

The STOP Obesity Alliance added a fifth policy recommendation about where both the private and public sectors can impact the nation's ongoing struggle with overweight and obesity.

• Read the Recommendations

Published in “Plo SONE,” 6(6): e20438, and authored by David L. Hudacek, Shyama Kuruvilla, Nora Kim, Katherine Semrau, Donald Thea, Shamim Qazi, Andrew Pleasant, and James Shanahan

This article, co-written by CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., demonstrates that pediatric diseases that receive lower funding are not covered by the media than higher-funded, higher-profile diseases.

• Read the Article

Published in “Cancer Rehabilitation and Survivorship: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Personalized Care” and authored by Christine L. Sardo
June 2011

Evidence shows that nutrition plays a key role in cancer prevention and recurrence. This chapter, written by former CRI Partnerships and Policies Director Christine L. Sardo, M.P.H., R.D., focuses on nutrition and chemoprevention (measures that seek to prevent, inhibit, or reverse cancer formation). It provides a case study of the Canyon Ranch Institute LIVESTRONG Celebrating Life After Cancer Program, which was inspired by the National Call to Action on Cancer Prevention and Survivorship.

• Read the Article

Published in "Nursing Outlook" Volume 59, Issue 2, co-authored by Andrew Pleasant and Julie McKinney
April 2011

Health literacy allows the public and personnel working in all health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information. As an emerging field of inquiry, health literacy requires measurement tools to study interventions and identify best practices. This article co-authored by CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., describes a process of engaging health literacy professionals in an online discussion about health literacy evaluation and measurement. A consensus-building component was also used to gauge what kinds of measurement tools are needed within the field.

• Read the Abstract

Published in the "Clinical Cancer Research Journal" and co-authored by Li Shu Wang, Mark Arnold, Yi-When Huang, Christine Sardo, Sequin Claire, Edward Martin, Tim Huang, Ken Riedl, Steven Schwartz, Wendy Frankel, Dennis Pearl, John Winston, Yiqing Xu, Guang-Yu Yang, and Gary Stoner
December 2010

This article, co-authored by former CRI Partnerships and Policies Director Christine L. Sardo, M.P.H., R.D., provides research findings of the effects of black raspberries on tumor progression in colorectal cancer patients at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

• Read the Abstract
  

Published in the "Disability and Health Journal," Volume 3, Issue 4
Co-authored by Richard H. Carmona, Margaret Giannini, Brian Bergmark, and Jennifer Cabe
October 2010

The recognition of the need for health professionals to see and treat the whole person, not just the disability, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities was collaboratively developed and issued in 2005 under the leadership of 17th U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS. This article provides a historical review of legislation that preceded development of the Call to Action, cites current implications of the Call to Action, and examines the need for continued action to ensure that the full potential of persons with disabilities can be realized. Richard Carmona, now CRI President, and Jennifer Cabe, M.A., who served in the Office of the Surgeon General and is now CRI Executive Director and Board Member, produced the 2005 Call to Action with numerous co-authors from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and other organizations, notably Margaret Giannini, M.D., FAAP.

• Read the Article

Strategies to Overcome & Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance
October 2010

Solving the issue of childhood obesity requires collaborative, multi-faceted efforts from children and parents, public and private partnerships, and health in all policies. In the October 2010 STOP Obesity Alliance blog, "Weighing In," Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, CRI President and Health and Wellness Chairperson for the STOP Obesity Alliance, discusses current initiatives focused on reducing childhood obesity and the many paths and partners required to overcome this epidemic.

• Read the Blog Entry

The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
September 2010

CRI partner The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services delivered this report on the individual cost of obesity. The report highlights the annual, incremental cost of obesity from an individual perspective: $2,646 for men, $4,879 for women. The report takes into account costs related to medical care, absenteeism from work, short-term disability, insurance and other factors.

• Read the Report

Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance
September 2010

The STOP Obesity Alliance research team at CRI partner The George Washington University developed a state-by-state compilation of charts that provide coverage for the prevention and treatment of obesity and related conditions.

• Read the Research Summary
• View the Medicaid-Fee-For-Service Treatment of Obesity Interventions Chart
• View the State Employee Health Benefit Plans Treatment of Obesity Interventions Chart
• View the Obesity and Health Status Mandates for Private Insurance Chart

Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance
July 2010

Recognizing that influential role that women play in their families’ health, the STOP Obesity Alliance established the Task Force on Women in July 2010. CRI is among the nearly 20 organizations that comprise the STOP Obesity Alliance Task Force on Women, which aims to promote discussion among decision makers to identify strategies that will improve the health of overweight and obese American women and their families.

• Read the Statement of Agreement

Published in the “Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Communication” authored by Andrew Pleasant
July 2010

Health literacy – that which allows the public and personnel working in all health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information – has always existed, but practitioners have only recently started to research and practice health literacy in both clinical and public health contexts. CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D. authored this chapter about the study and practice of health literacy.

• Read the Encyclopedia Summary
• Read the Article (a free membership to www.amazon.com is required to view the chapter). Click on the "Look Inside" link and perform a search for Andrew Pleasant within the Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Communication. The chapter Health Literacy is located on pages 353-360.

Published in "Bioactive Compounds and Cancer" and co-authored by Gary D. Stoner, Li-Shu Wang, Christine L. Sardo, Nancy Zikri, Stephen S. Hecht, and Susan R. Mallery
June 2010

This textbook chapter, co-authored by former CRI Partnerships and Policies Director Christine Sardo, M.P.H., R.D., discusses emerging cancer chemoprevention research that shows the important role black raspberries play in human health, especially in the prevention of certain types of cancer.

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Strategies to Overcome & Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance
March 2010

STOP Obesity Alliance research team at The George Washington University developed this white paper based on outcomes of an expert roundtable that examined innovative approaches to help address obesity in the primary care setting. The paper outlines areas to explore to improve the treatment of obesity in primary care.

• Read the White Paper
• Read the Executive Summary
• View the Survey Results

In this recent commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Snyderman and Dinan argue that effective health care must be personalized and anticipate poor health outcomes before they occur, support patients in a coordinated, integrative fashion, and that reimbursement methods must evolve to include prevention and incentives for effective care.

Improving Health by Taking it Personally. Snyderman, R. & Dinan, M. 303(4) JAMA. (2010).

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This article highlights the importance of health literacy for older adults who are often entrenched in the medical care system the most, yet comprehend medical information the least. The goal of the article is to familiarize readers with the concept of health literacy, demonstrate how health literacy can serve as a tool to improve the public's understanding of Alzheimer's disease (the seventh leading cause of death in the United States), and suggest generally applicable strategies for clinicians working with older adults in the United States. Despite all the barriers that patients and their clinicians face in regard to Alzheimer's disease in particular, it is essential to increase the health literacy skills of older adults and their caregivers in order to help them make informed health decisions. Health literacy issues offer clear evidence that the health system must accommodate change.

Health Literacy as a Tool to Improve the Public Understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease. Annals of Long-Term Care. 18(1), 34-40. Kobylarz, F.A., Pomidor, A., Pleasant, A. (January 2010)

• Read the Article