Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast

Associate Professor Carissa Bonner is a behavioral scientist and Deputy Director of the Sydney Health Literacy Lab at the University of Sydney. She is founding co-Editor-in-Chief of Health Literacy and Communication Open. Carissa leads a national partnership on heart health literacy and is a scientific advisor to the World Health Organization and International Patient Decision Aids Standards on health risk communication. Associate Professor Danielle Muscat is an Executive Member and Applied Translational Research Lead of the Sydney Health Literacy Lab, Advisor on Health Literacy to the World Health Organization, and co-Editor-in-Chief of Health Literacy and Communication Open. Danielle’s research focuses on the development and evaluation of interventions to improve health literacy at individual, community and systems levels. Carissa Bonner and Danielle Muscat talk with Helen Osborne about: When and how you realized that health literacy really mattered. Examples of projects that started small and grew into national and international efforts. These include Australia’s National Health Literacy Framework and the journal, Health Literacy & Communication Open. Suggestions for advocates everywhere who want to make an impact when it comes to health literacy. More ways to learn: Health Literacy and Communication Open, an open access journal Australia’s National Health Literacy Framework National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy, HLOL podcast interview with Cynthia Baur, Ph.D. Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, Third Edition, by Helen Osborne. The chapter “Organizations: Health Literacy Across Programs, Companies, Communities, and Countries,” is especially relevant to this episode. The post Health Literacy: Making an Impact in Unexpected Ways (HLOL #277) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.

In this episode, I’m trying something a little different–conversations with a health literacy advocate, innovator, or leader about policies, research, and strategies that helped shaped health literacy practice. We’ll discuss what worked then, what works now, and most importantly, where we think health literacy might go next. A good way to start is by focusing on a HLOL episode from a while ago. Today’s guest is Dr. Linda Ciavarelli who I recently interviewed for a HLOL podcast about immersive technology and virtual reality for patient education. Linda’s clinical background is in primary podiatric care. She now is co-founder of HouseCall VR, an innovative startup dedicated to creating virtual reality for patient education. Together, we reflect on the HLOL interview I did years ago with Ceci (Cecelia) and Len (Leonard) Doak. They are a husband-and-wife team whose work was widely considered then, and for many of us still is, foundational to health literacy. Listen as Linda and I discuss many aspects health communication, patient education, and health literacy. For those of you who have been doing this work a while, this conversation is a way to honor our heroes. For those who are newer to health literacy, we hope that our conversation will inspire you to find effective and timely ways to communicate about health. And to all, please let me know what you think of this new approach to discussing health literacy. I also invite your suggestions for guests to talk with me about the past, present, and future of health literacy. Thanks! Read a transcript of this podcast. The post Health Literacy Then & Now: Conversation with Dr. Linda Ciavarelli about the Foundational Work of the Doaks (HLOL #276) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.

Rex Wallace is Founder and CEO of Rex Wallace Consulting, a firm that helps health plans improve quality. A key way they accomplish this is by helping organizations improve the experiences of their members. Jennifer Nguyen is a Quality Improvement Consultant with Rex Wallace Consulting. Building on her background in public health and health education, Jennifer approaches quality as a genuine lever for health equity and health outcomes. Rex, Jennifer, and Helen talk about how quality improvement and health literacy intersect in many important ways. Highlights include: Quality Improvement and Star Ratings. What these terms mean, how and why they are used as measurement tools. Examples of how quality measurements can benefit insurance companies, regulatory agencies, healthcare facilities, and patients. Ways to make a compelling case that quality and health literacy together are essential to all we do when it comes to health outcomes and equity. More ways to learn: Rex Wallace Consulting Beyond Quality S1E4: Health Literacy As A Quality Strategy. Listen and watch as Rex Wallace, Jennifer Nguyen, and Helen Osborne make clear that health literacy is not a soft skill but rather a quality infrastructure issue. Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, Third Edition, by Helen Osborne. The chapter “Health Equity in the Context of Health Literacy” is especially relevant to this podcast episode. Read a transcript of this podcast. The post Intersection of Quality Improvement and Health Literacy (HLOL #275) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.

Dr. Linda Ciavarelli is a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) and board-certified specialist in Primary Podiatric Care. With over 20 years of clinical experience, Linda honed her expertise in preventative, orthopedic, and dermatologic podiatric medicine. In addition to her clinical background, Linda is the co-founder of HouseCall VR, an innovative startup dedicated to creating virtual reality patient education. This company aims to improve health literacy and outcomes using immersive technology. Linda has presented at numerous state, national, and global conferences, scientific meetings, and symposia on topics such as Patient Education Using Immersive Technology, Immersive Technology in Healthcare, and Developing Impact-Driven Innovation in XR. She also is active in her community and professional organizations. Listen as Linda Ciavarelli and Helen Osborne talk about: Immersive technology. What this technology is and its many formats including virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Virtual reality as a tool for patient education. How this differs from, yet in many ways is similar to, other forms of patient education. Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit to try something new when it comes to health communication. More ways to learn: HouseCallVR: VR Patient Education HouseCall VR Product Demo Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, Third Edition, by Helen Osborne. The chapters “Technology: E-Health,” “Technology: Online Teaching and Video Games,” and X-tras” are especially relevant to this podcast episode. Read a transcript of this podcast. The post Immersive Technology and Virtual Reality for Patient Education (HLOL #274) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.

Matthew Davenport MD MBA is Professor of Radiology and Urology, Service Chief, and Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Radiology at Michigan Medicine. He also is Co-Director of the Weiser Center for Prostate Cancer. Dr. Davenport is a co-author on national policy statements and has published over 250 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He is frequently interviewed regarding important issues in radiology including in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NBC and ABC news, and prominent national magazines. Listen as Matthew Davenport and Helen Osborne discuss: Incidental findings and uncertain conditions. What these terms mean, why they occur, how often they happen. Benefits, harms, and examples of how incidental findings may lead to a cascade of care. Patient-centered communication. Helping patients better understand the implications of such findings and work to take control of their health. More Ways to Learn: “Incidental Findings and Low-Value Care,” by Matthew S. Davenport, American Journal of Roentgenology, January 11, 2023. “Potential Frameworks for Communicating Diagnostic Certainty in Radiology Reports: From the ACR Commission on Quality and Safety,” by multiple authors, JACR, November 2025. “Elective MRI Screening of the General Public—Buyer Beware”, by Matthew S. Davenport and Scott B. Reeder, JAMA, May 6, 2026. Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, Third Edition, by Helen Osborne. The chapter “Decisions About Treatment, End-of-Life Choices, and Whether to Participate in Clinical Trials” is especially relevant to this podcast episode. Read a transcript of this podcast. The post Communicating About Incidental Findings and Other Uncertain Conditions (HLOL #273) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.