research
My research focuses on three 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.
I currently have a number of health literacy intervention projects in development. Stay tuned for more information once these projects get funded!
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.
I currently have a number of health literacy intervention projects in development. Stay tuned for more information once these projects get funded!
Sample publications:
- Manganello JA & Sojka C. (2016). An exploratory study of health literacy and African American adolescents. Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing, 39(3), 221-239.
- Manganello JA, Gerstner G, Pergolino K, Graham Y, Falisi A, & Strogatz D. (2016 online). Health literacy and health information seeking among New York State residents. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.
- 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.
- Chisolm D, Manganello J, Kelleher K, & Mashal M. (2014). Health literacy, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use behaviors in teens: Tests of mediation and moderation models. Patient Education & Counseling, 97(2), 291-6.
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 advances.
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 advances.
Sample publications:
- Massey P, Manganello JA, Langellier B, & Sentell T. (2017). Nativity and language preference as drivers of health information seeking: Examining differences and trends from a U.S. population-based survey. Ethnicity & Health.
- 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.
- Manganello JA, Gerstner G, Pergolino K, Graham Y, Strogatz D. (2016 online). Media and technology access, use, and preferences for receiving health information among New York State residents. JMIR Public Health Surveill.
- Manganello JA & Clayman M. (2011). The association of understanding of medical statistics with health information seeking and health provider interaction in a national sample of young adults. Journal of Health Communication, 16(3), 163-176.
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:
- 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.
- Smith KC, Gielen AC, Girasek D, Baker S, Manganello J, Bowman SM & Samuels A. (2012). ‘It was a freak accident’: An analysis of the labelling of injury events in the US press. Injury Prevention. 18(1), 38-43.
- Maniccia D, Davison K, Marshall S, Manganello J, & Dennison B. (2011). A meta-analysis of interventions that target children's screen-time reduction. Pediatrics, 128(1), e193.