Sharing Health Literacy Research

Advances in prevention, public health, and health care are, in part, limited by a failure to translate research findings into practice. Original research may take decades to become routine clinical practice or habits for large segments of the public. Increasing the amount of health literacy research is not enough—especially if the research is not used to create evidence-based interventions that are widely disseminated.

The disciplines of communication and social marketing, as well as translational research, could contribute significantly to more effective dissemination. The strategies and resources below will help achieve the goal of faster, more effective research to practice.

For more information about dissemination, please review the complete text of Goal 7 [667 KB, 73 pages] in the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.

• AHRQ Planning Tool to Guide Dissemination of Research Results
• AHRQ Recovery Act Awards for Translation and Dissemination (HHS Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality 2010)
• NIH Annual Conferences on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation (NIH 2011)
• NIH National Cancer Institutes' Designing for Dissemination model (NIH National Cancer Institute 2011)
• NIH Program Announcement for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01) (NIH 2009)
• AHRQ Best Practices in Public Reporting No. 3, How to Maximize Public Awareness and use of Comparative Quality Reports through Effective Promotion and Dissemination Strategies (HHS Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality 2010)
• RE-AIM model (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) (Kaiser Permanente Colorado Region Institute for Health Research 2011)