Putting Health Literacy Policy into Practice: How the Maryland Consumer Health Information Hub is Making This Happen (HLOL #251)

Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast

Cynthia Baur, Ph.D., is the Endowed Chair and Director of the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. Baur is widely recognized as a health communication expert whose work focuses on improving health literacy at the individual, family, community, and organizational levels.

Prior to this position, Cynthia Baur spent nearly two decades focusing on issues of health communication, health literacy, and health policy at U.S. Federal agencies including the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) where she was its Plain Language and Health Literacy Lead.

In 2022, Cynthia Baur and many others worked closely with Maryland lawmakers to designate the Horowitz Center as their state’s consumer health information hub. This huge accomplishment is a shining example of creating a “health literate state,” making health literacy happen statewide.

In this podcast, Cynthia Baur talks with Helen Osborne about:

• The Maryland Consumer Health Information Hub. What this project is, how and why it came about.
• How this Information Hub is fulfilling the vision of the U.S. National Action Plan for Health Literacy for all residents in Maryland.
• Suggestions about ways to make health literacy policy a part of everyday practice.

More Ways to Learn:

• Maryland Consumer Health Information Hub
• Horowitz Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health
• National Action Plan for Health Literacy, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy, a Health Literacy Out Loud podcast interview with Cynthia Baur
• CDC’s Clear Communication Index, a Health Literacy Out Loud podcast interview with Cynthia Baur

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 podcast.

Read a transcript of this podcast.

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