Sharing Health Literacy Research

Effective dissemination is necessary for translating research findings into practice.

Original research may take decades to become routine practice for public health professionals, clinicians, communicators, and the public, especially if the research is not widely disseminated. The resources below can help you achieve the goal of translating research to practice more effectively and sharing it more quickly.

• Publishing and Sharing Health Literacy Research and Experiencesexternal icon (Health Literacy Out Loud 2021) – In this podcast (and accompanying transcriptexternal icon), an assistant professor of population health discusses formats and options that health literacy researchers and practitioners can use to publish and share their experiences.
• On Being Brief: Skills and Supports for Translating Research to Practice via Brief Reportsexternal icon(U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences 2021) – In this short blog post, academicians describe how to create research briefs and use them to help non-researchers understand your research findings.
• Highlights of AHRQ’s Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Dissemination Investmentsexternal icon(HHS Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality [AHRQ] 2019) – This web page lists resources for evidence synthesis, research translation and communication, and implementation.
• Getting the Word Out: New Approaches for Disseminating Public Health Scienceexternal icon(Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 2018) – This journal article details ideas for increasing the likelihood that public health agencies and policy-making bodies will apply scientific findings.
• Best Practices in Public Reporting No. 3: How to Maximize Public Awareness and Use of Comparative Quality Reports Through Effective Promotion and Dissemination Strategiesexternal icon(HHS Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality 2017) – This resource includes a series of recommendations on using social marketing and other principles to reach specific audiences, developing messages to promote your reports with key audiences, engaging consumer advocacy and community groups in promoting your reports and helping people use them, disseminating your reports through trusted channels, and increasing the likelihood that consumers will see and use comparative quality reports.
• Advances in Patient Safety: Dissemination Planning Toolexternal icon (HHS Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality 2014) – AHRQ developed this tool to help you evaluate your research and develop plans to share your findings if your evaluation indicates that your research has real-world impact.
• Dissemination and Implementation Models in Health Research and Practiceexternal icon(NIH National Cancer Institute 2011) – This collection of theories, frameworks, and models; measures; strategies; research methods and study designs; and additional resources can help you better understand, plan for, and conduct dissemination and implementation studies.
• RE-AIM and PRISMexternal icon (RE-AIM) – RE-AIM stands for reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. PRISM stands for practical, robust, implementation and sustainability model. RE-AIM and PRISM are an integrated framework developed to improve the adoption and sustainable implementation of evidence-based interventions in health, public health, educational, community, and other settings.

For more information about dissemination, please review the complete text of Goal 7pdf iconexternal icon in the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.