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 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:
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:
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:
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