Articles
For 10 years Helen Osborne was a columnist for On Call magazine, published by a division of Boston Globe Media. Her monthly “In Other Words…” column focused on many aspects of health communication, patient education, and health literacy. Sadly, the magazine stopped being published in 2009. Happily, many of the articles are still timely and relevant. Below are about 100 of Helen’s columns. They are listed in chronological order. To find what you need, enter key terms in the search box on the upper right.
- Screening for Health Literacy Using the Newest Vital Sign December 11, 2007By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting What does a pint of ice cream have to do with health literacy? Quite a lot, according to Barry D. Weiss, MD, who is professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He and his research team, along with colleagues at ...read more >>
- Confirming Understanding With the Teach-Back Technique November 20, 2007By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting You just prescribed a potent drug that could be very helpful for your patient’s condition. But as she leaves your office, you question whether this patient really understands the instructions you just gave. While you hope you did a good job explaining, you are concerned because any ...read more >>
- Using Graphics and Humor to Convey Healthcare Essentials October 22, 2007By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Jan Potter, a communications specialist at the Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) in Georgia, once overheard some colleagues talking about their plans for a poster presentation. They were figuring out how to put all their charts, graphs, and text on standard-size pieces of paper that they ...read more >>
- Curious George Brings Health Literacy to the Classroom October 2, 2007PERSPECTIVE By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Editor’s Note: Since 1999 when Helen Osborne proposed the idea of Health Literacy Month, hospitals, health centers, literacy programs, libraries, social service agencies, businesses, professional associations, government agencies, consumer alliances, and many other groups have worked alone or in partnerships to create events that focus attention on ...read more >>
- Health Numeracy: How Do Patients Handle the Concept of Quantity When It Relates to Their Health? September 18, 2007By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting The diabetes pamphlet states, “Even a small decrease in weight can reduce the chance of getting diabetes.” At first glance, this sentence may seem simple for most readers to understand. But according to Elana Joram, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations ...read more >>
- Health Communication Half a World Away September 4, 2007On Call Magazine September 4, 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Health literacy is a worldwide concern as providers everywhere strive to communicate health information more clearly. The universality of this challenge became more real to me during a recent visit to Indermark, a rural village in northern South Africa. Indermark is unlike any place ...read more >>
- Talking with Patients about Integrative Therapies August 21, 2007By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Many patients use traditional or non-prescribed remedies that range from putting aloe on minor skin infections to taking herbals or antioxidants for late-stage cancer. Numerous studies have shown that very few who do (considerably less than half) ever discuss these remedies with their healthcare providers. To learn ...read more >>
- When Providers Are Patients July 30, 2007On Call Magazine July 24, 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Most of us in healthcare choose to do this work because we care about people and want to help others. Some call this being “other-centered.” But should illness or injury happen, and we become the ones who need care, our perspectives may radically ...read more >>
- Use Language Your Patients Understand July 2, 2007Use Language Your Patients Understandread more >>
- How to Help Patients Manage Their Action Planning June 26, 2007On Call Magazine June 26, 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Patients, not providers, are ultimately responsible for the day-to-day management of their own chronic condition. But figuring out what to do and being consistent about doing it is hard for almost everyone. Hilary Seligman, MD, MAS, is an assistant professor in the department ...read more >>
- What Healthcare Settings Can Learn from Zoos about Signage and Wayfinding May 29, 2007On Call Magazine May 29, 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Oddly enough, health literacy came to mind when I recently visited the elephant house at the Chicago Zoological Society’s Brookfield Zoo. I had a question about the exhibit and then suddenly noticed the answer on a sign right in front of me. It ...read more >>
- When Patients and Providers Talk About Health May 10, 2007On Call Magazine May, 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Health communication can be difficult for everyone. Healthcare providers and patients alike may struggle to communicate clearly, and both can walk away from conversations unsure about whether they understand what was said or were understood themselves. The ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) Network 13, based ...read more >>
- Helping Patients Understand Healthcare Costs April 24, 2007On Call Magazine, April 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting, http://www.healthliteracy.com/ William Shrank, MD, MSHS, knows a lot about healthcare costs, especially the copays (out-of-pocket expenses) that patients spend on prescription medications. Shrank not only is a practicing physician but also an instructor at Harvard Medical School and the division of pharmacoepidemiology and ...read more >>
- Talking About the Media February 10, 2007On Call Magazine, January/February 2007 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Five years ago, the Women’s Health Initiative study reported a slight increase in breast-cancer risk among women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and many television outlets and newspapers carried the story under the sensational headline “Hormones Cause Breast Cancer.” Although Lisa M. Jones, ...read more >>
- Helping Patients Ask Questions December 9, 2006On Call Magazine, November/December 2006 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting “Do you have any questions?” the provider asks. The patient shakes her head, indicating “no.” While the provider might assume this response means he did a good job communicating, the patient may think this is a polite way of not saying how confused ...read more >>
- Making a Bottom-Line Case for Health Literacy October 14, 2006On Call Magazine, September/October 2006 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Many uninsured and underinsured patients living within 50 miles of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, get their healthcare at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Internal Medicine Clinic. Patients come to this clinic with both urgent medical problems and chronic conditions such as congestive ...read more >>
- What Makes Presentations Good? August 12, 2006On Call Magazine, July/August 2006 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting As a healthcare professional, you’ve no doubt participated in enough professional and community-based conferences to know that not all presentations are equally interesting. Kristina Anderson, a freelance writer and editor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, describes her disappointment at a recent dinner meeting where ...read more >>
- Communicating When Naked: My Perspective as a Patient June 17, 2006On Call Magazine, May/June 2006 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Talking about health and other medical matters had always been easy for me. As an occupational therapist and health-literacy consultant, I felt confident and in charge of conversations no matter which professional hat I was wearing. But after a routine mammogram turned out ...read more >>
- Boost Health Literacy through Effective Use of Visual Aids May 1, 2006By Debra Beaulieu The Physician’s Advisory’s Private Practice Success, June 2006 Reprinted with permission of HCPro, www.hcpro.comread more >>
- Speaking With Colleagues April 15, 2006On Call Magazine, March/April 2006 In Other Words…Speaking With Colleagues By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L, President of Health Literacy Consulting While healthcare providers need to communicate clearly with patients and their family, it’s equally important that colleagues understand one another. Miscommunication with administrators, co-workers, professionals in other departments or institutions, and even students and interns can have dire ...read more >>
In the Press
- Book Marketing Mentors podcast June 15, 2018Book Marketing Mentors podcast features Helen Osborne who discusses the experience of taking a book from a traditional publisher to doing so on her own. Listen to Helen’s podcast conversation with Susan Friedmann, “How to Go from Traditional to Self-Published.” Order your copy of the book they’re discussing, Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical ...read more >>
- October is Health Literacy Month October 5, 2016In this blog about public libraries, Helen Osborne highlights ways everyone can help improve health understanding. She includes tips for those working in libraries, overseeing libraries, and visiting libraries. Article published in WebJunction: The Learning Place for Libraries.read more >>
- 8 ways to help people be better patients May 7, 2016Helen Osborne writes about ways that teachers, family members, and friends can help people be better patients. Published in the online journal EPALE, from the European Commission.read more >>
- Health Literacy Month Gets a Boost from Payers October 22, 2014HealthLeaders Media has a wonderful article about health literacy and health plans, written by Christopher Cheney. Helen Osborne is quoted throughout. The article is Health Literacy Month Gets a Boost from Payers.”read more >>
- HuffPost Healthy Living June 3, 2013Simple Tips for Creating Patient-Friendly Health Materials,” by Erin Marcus MD. Helen Osborne is cited several times along with other health literacy experts.read more >>
- Why Some Patients Aren’t Following Your Instructions May 29, 2013Why Some Patients Aren’t Following Your Instructions,” By Neil Chesanow, Medscape Today. Helen Osborne is quoted throughout this article about an epidemic of miscommunication.read more >>
- College & Undergraduate Libraries April 2, 2013Information Literacy Beyond the Library. Health Literacy: A National Responsiblity – Our Brother’s Keeper,” by Lana Jackman. Based on an extensive interview with Helen Osborne about the current state of health literacy.read more >>
- What’s Your Health IQ? April 29, 2011What’s Your Health IQ? Article by Lara Salahi for ABCNews.comread more >>
- Plain Language Matters March 12, 2010“Making Numbers Make Sense,” by Helen Osborne. A guest blog for the Center for Plain Language.read more >>
- CureToday.com December 24, 2009Layman’s Terms: How to Translate the Language of Cancer, by Charlotte Huff. Helen Osborne was quoted extensively in this article published in the Winter 2009 edition of CureToday.comread more >>
- The More You Know: How Much Is Enough When It Comes to Cancer Information? December 24, 2009The More You Know: How Much Is Enough When It Comes to Cancer Information? By Helen Osborne CureToday.com, Winter 2009read more >>
- CUREtoday.com November 3, 2009“Do You Understand Your Diagnosis? Kathy LaTour, editor-at-large for CURE Media Group blogs about Helen Osborne’s work in health literacy and how it affects people with cancer.read more >>
- Pennsylvania State Senate October 6, 2009The Pennsylvania State Senate has proclaimed October as Health Literacy Month. Thank you for being a health literacy champion, Senator Kitchen.read more >>
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