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.
- Health Literacy: How Visuals Can Help Tell the Healthcare Story (PDF) March 1, 2006Health Literacy: How Visuals Can Help Tell the Healthcare Story (PDF)read more >>
- Actions Can Speak as Clearly as Words January 1, 2006Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine January/February 2006 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting When healthcare providers make eye contact and smile, patients are likely to get a sense of caring and compassion. But when providers look away or frown, patients may interpret the encounter as unfriendly or even hostile. Facial expressions, tone of ...read more >>
- Know When to Speak and When to Listen: Communicating With People Who Are Anxious or Angry October 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, October 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting When people are anxious or angry, they may not be able to make sense of what you are saying. It can also work in reverse. The intensity of a patient’s or a family member’s feelings can interfere with that ...read more >>
- Health Communication and Patient Safety October 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, October 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Mrs. Blue is a 67-year old woman who lives alone. While visiting a friend in a nearby town, she fell and hurt her ankle. Her friend called a cab to take Mrs. Blue to the hospital. In the emergency room, ...read more >>
- Clearing a Path: Helping Patients Understand Medical-Legal Information September 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, September 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting “As patients, we give health providers permission to poke, probe, and otherwise do things to our bodies that we don’t let anyone else do,” says Mark Hochhauser, PhD, a psychologist and nationally known readability expert based in Minnesota. In order ...read more >>
- What Makes Web Sites Patient-Friendly? July 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, July 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Patients and their families may find just as many reasons to go to the Internet as to the doctor or the pharmacy. They might, for example, want to research symptoms or learn more about a new diagnosis or prescription. ...read more >>
- Calm and Clear: How to Communicate in the Midst of Public Chaos June 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, June, 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Imagine a peaceful, ordinary day that suddenly turns chaotic. A railroad car has rolled over and is spilling toxic vapors into the air. Everyone is concerned about the immediate health risk. There’s also concern about the long-term safety consequences ...read more >>
- Communicating Bad and Sad News May 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, May/June 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Communicating with patients, families, or clients about upsetting or unexpected issues is a challenge for all healthcare professionals. In some instances, such as relating a grim diagnosis or prognosis, the news may be sad. At other times, providers may have ...read more >>
- Listening to Your Audience: How to Get Reader Feedback March 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, March/April 2005 By Helen Osborne, MEd, OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting You just wrote a new patient-education document. You checked with content experts (doctors, nurses, scientists, and others with subject-matter expertise) and confirmed that all the important information is included. You used words you assume are clear and simple, double-checking ...read more >>
- How Do You Know? Measuring the Effectiveness of Health-Literacy Interventions January 1, 2005Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, January/February 2005 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting How do you know your efforts to improve health literacy at your institution are working? Mary Ann Abrams, MD, MPH, and Gail Nielsen, RTR, BSHCA, SAHRA, have some answers. Abrams is a health management consultant, and Nielsen is a patient-safety ...read more >>
- What’s the Difference? Does Gender Matter When Communicating About Health? December 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, December 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting When creating health information, does it matter whether your audience is male or female? Should there be a difference in style? If so, what is that difference? I’ve been intrigued by these questions recently, having worked on two gender-specific ...read more >>
- Why Health Literacy Matters October 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, October 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting October 2004 marks the fifth anniversary of Health Literacy Month. Health literacy has grown tremendously over the past five years, evolving from a concept that few were aware of to an issue of worldwide attention and action. Health literacy is ...read more >>
- Health and Literacy Working Together: A Health Literacy Conference for New Readers & Health Professionals September 6, 2004By Helen Osborne, President of Health Literacy Consulting “Health and Literacy Working Together,” was a conference unlike any other. Held in Des Moines, Iowa on September 10- 11, 2004, new readers (adults who are learning to read) and health providers (doctors, nurses, public health specialists, and others who communicate health information) met as equal partners — ...read more >>
- Building Health Literacy Programs One Step at a Time August 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, August/September 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Health literacy is starting to get the attention, both on a national and on a local level, that it deserves. Nationally, the Institute of Medicine recently has released its report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. The report ...read more >>
- Working With Numbers June 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, June/July 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting “Medicine is inherently numerical,” says Lisa M. Schwartz, MD, MS, general internist and senior research associate at the VA Medical Center in White River, Vermont. Patients need to understand numbers in order to make health decisions based on risk ...read more >>
- Healthcare Communication From an Adult Learner’s Perspective April 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, April 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Archie Willard is an adult learner who learned to read when he was 54 years old. Although he was always good at solving problems and making decisions, Willard struggled with reading and spelling. He worked for many years at ...read more >>
- Helping Patients Make Difficult Decisions April 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, April 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting “Althea” is faced with a difficult choice. She has been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that, while not life-threatening, affects her pituitary gland. This, in turn, causes a hormonal imbalance that Althea says makes her life miserable. Her treatment ...read more >>
- The Ethics of Simplicity March 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, March 2004 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting When simplifying complex health information for consumers, writers need to make difficult choices that are as much about ethics as they are about nouns and verbs. For instance, the writer has to ask whether a document contains too much ...read more >>
- Teaching With Touchscreen Technology January 1, 2004Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, January/February 2004 By Helen Osborne, MEd, OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting People who are inexperienced or uncomfortable with computers, have physical or cognitive disabilities, or have limited literacy and language skills can all use touchscreens. Touchscreen technology makes simultaneous use of audio, video, and interactive techniques, and because a touchscreen has ...read more >>
- Communicating about Health with New Immigrants November 1, 2003Article from the Boston Globe’s On Call Magazine, November/December 2003 By Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L President of Health Literacy Consulting Accessing, using, and understanding the United States healthcare system is difficult for almost everyone. But for immigrants new to this country, it can sometimes seem impossible. Marcia Drew Hohn, EdD, is director of public education and civic outreach at the ...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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