research
My research focuses on four main areas as described below.
Health literacy: How can we make health information easier to understand?
Health literacy is about the ability to get and understand health information, make informed decisions about health, and navigate the health care system. My work in this area has looked at health literacy for adolescents and young adults, how to measure health literacy, and how health literacy skills are linked with health information seeking and provider communication.
Health literacy also includes the way a health organization provides information to patients and clients, and how health care providers communicate with patients.
Sample publications:
Health literacy is about the ability to get and understand health information, make informed decisions about health, and navigate the health care system. My work in this area has looked at health literacy for adolescents and young adults, how to measure health literacy, and how health literacy skills are linked with health information seeking and provider communication.
Health literacy also includes the way a health organization provides information to patients and clients, and how health care providers communicate with patients.
Sample publications:
- Harris M, Colvin K, Linder N*, Manganello J, Mohamed L, & Shaw A. (2021 online). Development of the Refugee Health Literacy Assessment Tool (RHLAT). American Journal of Health Education.
- Patil U, Kostareva U, Hadley M*, Manganello J, Okan O, Dadaczynski K, Massey P, Agner J, & Sentell T. (2021). Health literacy, digital health literacy, and COVID-19 pandemic attitudes and behaviors in U.S. college students: Implications for interventions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), 3301.
- Manganello JA, Colvin KF, Chisolm DJ, Arnold C, Hancock J*, & Davis T. (2017 online). Validation of the Rapid Estimate for Adolescent Literacy in Medicine Short-Form (REALM-TeenS). Pediatrics, 139(5), e20163286.
- Manganello JA, DeVellis R, Davis T, & Schottler-Thal C. (2015). Development of the Health Literacy Assessment Scale for Adolescents (HAS-A). Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 8(3), 172-184.
Health information seeking & dissemination: What is the best way to get health information to people?
With so many information sources, understanding how people look for health information has become increasingly important. It is also necessary to think about the best way to distribute health information, including research findings, health recommendations, and health news. There are many ways to distribute health information, and people have individual preferences for which sources they prefer, understand, and trust. There is always more work to do in this area--information sources are continuously changing as technology and communication preferences change.
Sample publications:
With so many information sources, understanding how people look for health information has become increasingly important. It is also necessary to think about the best way to distribute health information, including research findings, health recommendations, and health news. There are many ways to distribute health information, and people have individual preferences for which sources they prefer, understand, and trust. There is always more work to do in this area--information sources are continuously changing as technology and communication preferences change.
Sample publications:
- Manganello, J. A., Chiang, S. C., Cowlin, H., Kearney, M. D., & Massey, P. M. (2022 online). HPV and COVID-19 vaccines: Social media use, confidence, and intentions among parents living in different community types in the United States. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1–17.
- Manganello, J. A., Penta, S., Whalen, E. (2022). Pandemic communication: Challenges and opportunities for local health departments. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, (28)1, 6-9.
- Massey P, Chiang S, Rose M, Murray M, Rockett M, Klassen A, Manganello J, & Leader A. (2021 online). Development of personas to communicate narrative-based Information about the HPV Vaccine on Twitter. Frontiers.
- Manganello, J., Gerstner, G., Pergolino, K., Graham, Y., Falisi, A.*, & Strogatz, D. (2017). The relationship of health literacy with use of digital technology for health information: Implications for public health practice. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 23(4), 380–387.
Media messages & effects: How do all types of media influence health?
The first step in being able to understand media effects is to understand what media messages people are exposed to, and how the messages are presented. It is important to also study whether people pay attention to the messages, whether they understand the messages, and how the messages might affect them. This has become even more important in the age of social media and the internet, where people have instant access to many forms of media for entertainment and news. I look at media messages that are important for public health, including those that appear in widely used sources such as blogs and social media. I also look at how media can influence health, and how parents manage media use for children and adolescents.
Sample publications:
The first step in being able to understand media effects is to understand what media messages people are exposed to, and how the messages are presented. It is important to also study whether people pay attention to the messages, whether they understand the messages, and how the messages might affect them. This has become even more important in the age of social media and the internet, where people have instant access to many forms of media for entertainment and news. I look at media messages that are important for public health, including those that appear in widely used sources such as blogs and social media. I also look at how media can influence health, and how parents manage media use for children and adolescents.
Sample publications:
- Manganello, J. A. (2021). Media use for children with disabilities in the United States during COVID-19. Journal of Children and Media, 15(1), 29–32.
- Laestadius L, Wang Y, Taleb ZB, Kalan ME, Cho Y, & Manganello J. (2020). Online national health agency mask guidance for the public in light of COVID-19: Content analysis. JMIR Public Health & Surveillance, 6(2), e19501.
- Aftosmes-Tobio A, Ganter C, Gicevic S, Newlan S, Simon C, Davison K, & Manganello J. (2016 online). A systematic review of media parenting in the context of childhood obesity research. BMC Public Health.
- Manganello J, Smith, K, Sudakow K, & Summers, A. (2013). A content analysis of food advertisements appearing in parenting magazines. Public Health Nutrition, 16(12), 2188-2196.
Injury prevention: How can we use health communication strategies to help prevent injury?
Although I have worked on several topics, injury prevention has been a focus of mine ever since training at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. Over time I have worked with Lara McKenzie to understand how various forms of media depict injury prevention and how parents understand and act on injury prevention information they see.
Sample publications:
Although I have worked on several topics, injury prevention has been a focus of mine ever since training at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. Over time I have worked with Lara McKenzie to understand how various forms of media depict injury prevention and how parents understand and act on injury prevention information they see.
Sample publications:
- Manganello J, Kane C*, Roberts KJ, Klein E, McAdams R, & McKenzie LB. (2021 online). A year of child injury prevention on Instagram. Journal of Health Communication.
- McAdams R, Roberts K, Klein E, Manganello J, & McKenzie L. (2021). Using social media to disseminate injury prevention content: Is a picture worth a thousand words? Health Behavior Research, 4(2).
- McKenzie, L. B., Roberts, K. J., Collins, C. L., Clark, R. M., Smith, K. C., & Manganello, J. (2019). Maternal knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intention after exposure to injury prevention recommendations in the news media. Journal of Health Communication, 24(7-8), 625–632.
- Manganello JA, Falisi A, Roberts K, Smith K, & McKenzie L. (2016 online). Pediatric injury information seeking for mothers with young children: The role of health literacy and eHealth literacy. Journal of Communication in Healthcare.