Sarity Dodson

Deakin University · Population Health Strategic Research Centre

Background Recruitment of people to randomised trials of online interventions presents particular challenges and opportunities. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with the recruitment of people with HIV (PWHIV) and their doctors to the HealthMap trial, a cluster randomised trial of an online self-management program. Methods:...

Background Despite persistent calls for HIV care to adopt a chronic care approach, few HIV treatment services have been able to establish service arrangements that prioritise self-management. To prevent cardiovascular and other chronic disease outcomes, the HealthMap program aims to enhance routine HIV care with opportunities for self-management su...

Background: The World Health Organization describes health literacy as a critical determinant of health and driver of citizen empowerment and health equity. Several studies have shown that health literacy is associated with a range of socioeconomic factors including educational attainment, financial position and ethnicity. The complexity of the he...

This study explored the association between health literacy, barriers to breast cancer screening, and breast screening participation for women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. English-, Arabic- and Italian-speaking women (n = 317) between the ages of 50 to 74 in North West Melbourne, Australia were recruited to complet...

Health literacy is a driver of community empowerment and a key determinant of health and equity. The World Health Organisation has established a strong global mandate for addressing health literacy through public policy action, by positioning it as one of three key pillars for achieving sustainable development and health equity in the Shanghai Decl...

Background: The aim of this study was to develop a tool to support health workers' ability to identify patients' multidimensional health literacy strengths and challenges. The tool was intended to be suitable for administration in healthcare settings where health workers must identify health literacy priorities as the basis for person-centred care...

Caregivers have been largely neglected in health literacy measurement. We assess the construct validity, and internal consistency of the Health Literacy of Caregivers Scale-Cancer (HLCS-C), and present a revised, psychometrically robust scale. Using data from 297 cancer caregivers (12.4% response rate) recruited from Melbourne, Australia between Ja...

Background The health literacy skills required by individuals to interact effectively with health services depends on the complexity of those services, and the demands they place on people. Public health and social service organisations have a responsibility to provide services and information in ways that promote equitable access and engagement, t...

Objective Adequate fruit and vegetable intake is important in the prevention of chronic disease. Health literacy is associated with health outcomes but its role in dietary behaviour has received little attention. The present study investigated the association between a multidimensional measure of health literacy, sociodemographic characteristics, a...

International and cultural perspectives of health literacy help deepen the understanding of the global context within which health literacy plays an important role. Throughout this article, we explore the significance of health literacy initiatives, interventions, practices, and research for addressing health challenges on a variety of levels in th...

Background The need for healthcare strengthening to enhance equity is critical, requiring systematic approaches that focus on those experiencing lesser access and outcomes. This project developed and tested the Ophelia (OPtimising HEalth LIteracy and Access) approach for co-design of interventions to improve health literacy and equity of access. Ei...

Accessible and responsive health systems are critical to population health and human development. While progress has been made toward global health and development targets, significant inequities remain within and between countries. Expanding health inequities suggest a widespread and systemic neglect of vulnerable citizens, and a failure to enshri...

Health literacy (HL) refers to a person’s ability to engage effectively with health information and services. We aimed to describe the HL of people receiving dialysis and the factors associated with it. A cross-sectional design was used, with demographic and clinical data as predictors. Participants were people receiving dialysis at a metropolitan...

Background: The HealthMap project is developing an intervention to reduce cardiovascular risk in people living with HIV. As part of the formative stages of the intervention design, we sought to understand the needs of people with HIV (PWHIV). Methods: Two concept-mapping workshops with PWHIV (n=10), and one with HIV care providers (n=6) were conduc...

Background The leading causes of morbidity and mortality for people in high-income countries living with HIV are now non-AIDS malignancies, cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases associated with ageing. This protocol describes the trial of HealthMap, a model of care for people with HIV (PWHIV) that includes use of an interactive...

Background Recent advances in the measurement of health literacy allow description of a broad range of personal and social dimensions of the concept. Identifying differences in patterns of health literacy between population sub-groups will increase understanding of how health literacy contributes to health inequities and inform intervention develop...

Health literacy refers to the ability to engage effectively with health information and services. For chronic kidney disease patients it has been associated with higher rates of hospitalisation and emergency department presentations, and decreased dialysis attendance. In the current study 100 dialysis patients (M = 68 years) completed the Health Li...

Caregivers play a vital role in caring for people diagnosed with cancer. However, little is understood about caregivers' capacity to find, understand, appraise and use information to improve health outcomes. The study aimed to develop a conceptual model that describes the elements of cancer caregiver health literacy.Six concept mapping workshops we...

Background Health literacy refers to an individual¿s ability to engage with health information and services. Cancer caregivers play a vital role in the care of people with cancer, and their capacity to find, understand, appraise and use health information and services influences how effectively they are able to undertake this role. The aim of this...

Aims Caregivers provide extensive and multifaceted support for people with cancer. While it is important they have sufficient knowledge and skills to provide optimal care, few measures are currently available to assess a caregiver’s capacity to find, understand and use health information for optimal care provision. The aim of this study is to descr...

Introduction/Background: Health literacy has been described as 'the cognitive and social skills that determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information to promote and maintain good health' (WHO). The aim of RDNS, one of the 8 organisations participating in the OPHELIA Health Literacy project, was t...

Background: Health literacy is a multi-dimensional concept comprising a range of cognitive, affective, social, and personal skills and attributes. This paper describes the research and development protocol for a large communities-based collaborative project in Victoria, Australia that aims to identify and respond to health literacy issues for peop...

This paper does not have an abstract. The discussion section follows: Discussion Online community valued for peersupport function A consumer-led online community is valued for a function that is similar to more structured peer-support programs that are more commonly delivered in person. People with diabetes said the online community provides them w...

Background Musculoskeletal and concurrent mental health problems are common and complex problems for practitioners across the care continuum. The internet and web-based solutions are increasingly being seen as a viable way to deliver effective care, particularly for patient education programs. Most CDSM programs have not considered best practice in...

Aims Caregivers play a critical role in obtaining and interpreting information, decision making and management for people with cancer. Health literacy refers to a person’s capacity to find, understand and use information to promote and maintain good health. Low health literacy is linked with poorer health; non-adherence to advice and inadequate se...

To examine whether unemployment and partnership affects pregnancy, live births and terminations among young Australian women. Unemployment has conventionally been used in epidemiological studies to examine the health effects of loss of opportunity, material resources and satisfaction associated with work. During welfare reform in the 1990s it was a...

Background In order to profile the health services research community in Australia and New Zealand and describe its capacity, a web-based survey was administered to members of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ) and delegates of the HSRAANZ's Third Health Services Research and Policy Conference. Results...

The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales was developed to routinely measure outcomes for adults with mental illness. Comparable instruments were also developed for children and adolescents (the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents) and older people (the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales 65+). All three are being widely...

Intergerenerational Programs: Understanding What We Have Created. Valerie S. Kuehne (Ed.). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 1999, 230 pp. with index, $US 49.95 (hardcover). - - Volume 15 Issue 2 - Jeanette A. Lawrence, Sarity Dodson