Plain Language for Health. A Writing and Design Workshop for Health Research and Practice (March 28-29)
The MRCT Center co-sponsored a two-day workshop held by Tufts on March 28th-29thfocused on how to use plain language principles to improve research-related communications. Approximately 70 attendees from academic medical centers, the public health field and pharmaceutical companies attended.
Our very own Health Literacy in Clinical Research workgroup co-chair, Christopher Trudeau, focused an entire day of the workshop on how to develop informed consent forms using health literacy principles given the recent Common Rule revisions. In addition, Sarah White and Sylvia Baedorf Kassis sat on two separate panels to share their perspectives on how health literacy can be integrated into consent processes and clinical trials at large, respectively.
NASEM Roundtable on Health Literacy. A Workshop on Health Literacy in Clinical Trials: Practice and Impact (April 11)
On April 11, Barbara Bierer gave the opening keynote at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Roundtable on Health Literacy “Workshop on Health Literacy in Clinical Trials: Practice and Impact.” The need for health literacy in clinical research was described as an ethical imperative and a practice that could benefit participants andresearch studies. The connection between health literacy and diversity efforts was made even more evident over the course of the day’s discussions. Inclusive community engagement and research education at various points of an individual’s healthcare journey, were identified as critical to supporting research awareness, understanding, and participation. A repeated theme of the day was the need for greater sensitivity when considering the context within which research information is presented and discussed. A summary report of the workshop will be released by the Roundtable on Health Literacy later this year.