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Health Literacy Month Team: Our Collective Story

By Helen Osborne, M.Ed.,OTR/L
Natick, Massachusetts

I founded Health Literacy Month nearly 12 years ago as a way to raise awareness about the need for understandable health information. I saw this as a time for health literacy advocates everywhere to speak with a louder voice – together bringing attention to the importance of communicating health information in clear, simple, and understandable ways.  

For many years, I encouraged organizations to host their own awareness-raising events. I still do. But this year I wanted to add something new. Since I like stories and wanted to learn about social media, I came up with a notion to somehow combine them. I mentioned this to any and all I came in contact with over the next week or two. Many people seemed intrigued. Some wanted to know more. And a few kind souls even volunteered to help.

Eureka! Soon there was a Health Literacy Month core team of six members who helped me make this project real. We each brought something special in terms of expertise and background. We divided our efforts into two groups:  Buzz, the social media/marketing piece of the team, and Buff, our editorial crew. Together, we created something very special. Allow me to tell you our Health Literacy Month team story. 

Michelle Badash, MS, is the managing editor of an academic international nutrition journal and a freelance consultant specializing in global health and photography projects. She attended a guest lecture I gave last spring at Tufts University. Almost as an afterthought, at the end of my presentation I mentioned this storytelling idea. Michelle was one of two people that night who volunteered to help.

Michelle, who joined the Buff group, says she was intrigued that this project combined technology with stories. She also believes in health literacy. "I’ve been doing health literacy in a sort of quiet way in all my work―making medical information understandable and relevant to each audience." Michelle applied these same principles to the two photo slideshows she created for this project. You can see them on October 9 and October 28.   

Eryck Dzotsi works at Compass Knowledge Group in Florida as a search engine and social media optimization expert. He and I didn’t connect until several months into this project. A few months earlier, I had mentioned this storytelling idea to a client who described it to her company’s search marketing department. That’s where Eryck came in. He was so excited that he volunteered to help with Buzz. 

Eryck’s story is quite different from the others because he was initially unfamiliar with the term "health literacy." One reason he didn’t know about health literacy was that his degree is in business and computer science. Another is that he grew up in Togo, and only moved to the US when he started at college.

Thanks to this project, Eryck now is an ardent health literacy advocate. He speaks of how crucial health literacy is, especially in this era of health care reform. I asked Eryck his thoughts about working on this project. He stunned me by saying, "Being a part of this team is one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my entire life." Eryck is already planning ahead for Health Literacy Month 2010.    

Randi Kant MS, MPH, CHES is the Wellness Manager for Mather Lifeways in Illinois. Last spring, she emailed me about work we had done together. I told her about this Health Literacy Month storytelling idea and she immediately offered to help on Buff.

Randi says that working on this project was challenging, but very rewarding. "Being on this team helped me forge an even stronger bond with the issue of health literacy as I  began to see it from so many diverse points of view," she said. Randi believes strongly that health literacy is inextricably linked to one’s ability to care for and take control of personal health. In the field of older adult wellness, Randi often sees the unfortunate effects that result when health literacy is not adequately addressed. She feels strongly that this situation can be improved, saying "Health literacy puts people in the driver’s seat oftheir own health." You can read more about health literacy and older adults in Randi’s story posted on October 30.

 Don McCormick is a public information officer at the Iowa Department of Public Health. He is also a former teacher of English as a foreign/second language. Don initially emailed me because someone said I was looking for health literacy stories. So was he. In fact, Don had been gathering stories for Iowa’s Plain & Simple health literacy project Web site, www.idph.state.ia.us/health_literacy. Don volunteered to help on both Buzz and Buff. 

One reason Don feels so strongly about health literacy is that he knows what it is like to live in another country (Japan) where culture and language barriers can pose real threats to personal health.  Don is also committed to public health principles.  "We can do a much better job of ensuring that our messages result in healthy decisions if we communicate in ways that reach the greatest number of people," he said.  You can read stories that Don has shared on October 5, 12, 19, 26, and 29.

 Phyllis Moir, MA, BELS, is a writer-editor who has worked in the public health sector for almost 20 years. She was the only team member I actively recruited. That’s because Phyllis is not only a "real-life" editor but also my backyard neighbor. Whenever I look out the window for inspiration, I see her house. Happily, Phyllis volunteered to sign up with Buff.   

One reason Phyllis agreed to help was that she was intrigued with health literacy and wanted to know more. "I had worked for years on the fringes of health literacy and was pleased to be more involved," she said.  She worked closely and collaboratively with many of our story authors. She found this much more fun than just being an editorial "disembodied pencil." Phyllis wrote her own health literacy story, too. You can find it posted on October 1. 

 Linda Rohret MA, RHEd works at the Department of Public Health in North Carolina. We never met in person but sometimes connect by email and phone. When we spoke last spring about a possible speaking engagement, Linda and I discovered our shared curiosity (and cluelessness) about Twitter, blogs, and other social media. So I told her about this project.

Linda immediately volunteered to join Buzz. She says that this experience proved doubly worthwhile, "It was exciting and fun working with everyone coming to health literacy in different ways." Linda also learned about social media. In fact, before too long she posted her first-ever blog comment. Linda is so enthused about this year’s storytelling project that she already has volunteered to help in 2010. You can read about Linda’s health literacy progression in her story posted on October 9.

Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L told stories, too. Beyond the article you are reading now, take a listen to podcasts on October 1, 6, 14, and 27.

What a team! What a story! Together, we have created something very special. Until Health Literacy Month 2010,
~Helen Osborne

Helen Osborne M.Ed., OTR/L is founder of Health Literacy Month, president of Health Literacy Consulting, and host of the podcast series Health Literacy Out Loud. She coordinated and directed this year's Health Literacy Month Storytelling project. To learn more go to:

We welcome your comments about each story. The best place for doing so is on our Health Literacy Month blog. 

Please share these health literacy stories with others. You are welcome to post a link, send an email, or otherwise tell others about them. To reprint any story, please first contact the author (if contact information is included). Otherwise, please cite the source by adding this tagline "Story reprinted with permission of the Health Literacy Month Storytelling Project. You can find more information and other stories at www.healthliteracymonth.org."

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