Photo caption: Health literacy certificate students Rachel Potter (far left), David Smelser and Anne Lorio (far right) listen to fellow presenter Carla Huggins (center) during the American Physical Therapy Association of Georgia’s 2024 Impact Conference.
story by Claire Miller
Health literacy encompasses the ways people communicate, understand and use health information so that they can make informed decisions about their lives.
For Clinical Professor of Physical Therapy Anne Lorio, this concept is a vital part of her classes in Georgia State University’s Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions.
“Patient education is a valuable tool in our toolbox,” she said. “I’m trying to help educate future physical therapists about the importance of clear communication strategies and health literacy principles. I’m also trying to help educate current physical therapists in the community.”
To better educate herself and her students about health literacy, Lorio completed the College of Education & Human Development’s (CEHD) health literacy certificate program in 2022 as part of her doctoral studies.
This graduate-level certificate program, which officially launched in fall 2020, is designed to give educators, researchers, health professionals and public health practitioners a more comprehensive understanding of health literacy and how it can be incorporated into their work.
“Efforts to improve health care quality, reduce entrenched health disparities and reduce system-wide costs cannot succeed without improving health literacy,” said Iris Feinberg, research assistant professor and associate director of the CEHD’s Adult Literacy Research Center. “Health literacy is not only based on an individual’s skill or literacy level, but also depends on receiving accessible, understandable and useful information.”
Students in the online certificate program take courses with faculty from the College of Education & Human Development, the School of Public Health and the Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, and they are prepared to plan, implement and evaluate health literacy programs, policies and interventions. It takes two semesters to complete the four required classes, and graduates can apply their new health literacy knowledge to a variety of fields.
Both current students and graduates are already using what they’ve learned in the certificate program in their current work. For example, Lorio and fellow health literacy certificate students Rachel Potter and David Smelser gave a health literacy-focused presentation at the American Physical Therapy Association of Georgia’s Impact Conference this spring.
During the presentation, Lorio discussed her dissertation research on physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in Georgia and how they use health literacy practices when working with patients. Her preliminary research findings underscore why it’s important to have the health literacy certificate program at Georgia State.
“I think everyone that is going into healthcare should get this certificate,” Lorio said. “It will make you a better, more well-rounded and knowledgeable provider and educator.”
For more information, visit the health literacy certificate program page.