181231 Developing Clear, Simple, and Useful Messages about the DHHS Physical Activity Guidelines for Audiences with Limited Health Literacy

Monday, October 27, 2008: 2:50 PM

Kay Loughrey, MPH, MSM, RD , Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, Department of health & Human Services, Rockville, MD
Rebecca Payne, MPH , Division of Nutrition Physical Activity and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Ann Jimerson, BFA , Senior Program Officer, AED, Washington, DC
Jennifer Anne Bishop, MPH , Senior Policy Analyst, Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Asst. Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Washington, DC
Christine G. Spain, MS, MA , President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research, Planning, and Special Projects, Washington, DC
     
Background: In the fall of 2008, the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services will release Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) for the nation. At this time, a policy document specifying and describing the guidelines will be released, along with Web and print communication materials explaining the guidelines to the general public. Of particular concern is ensuring that the PAG will be accessible to people with low health literacy and limited time.

Methods: Throughout 2007 and 2008 a communication workgroup of staff from the Department of Health and Human Services is working with AED to conduct formative focus groups in 3 parts of the country with adults with limited health literacy to understand their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs related to physical activity and the Guidelines. These findings, along with those from other formative research conducted by ODPHP and CDC, literature reviews, and discussions with experts will be used to develop and test PAG messages and materials understandable to people with low health literacy, and therefore clear and useful to all Americans.

Results and Discussion: The results of the research will be presented and the process used to apply them to developing clear and simple messages will be discussed, along with pretesting results and a description of the final Web and print materials. Lessons learned about communication about physical activity to audiences with low health literacy will be presented.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session participants will be able to: 1. Describe reactions to and emotions generated by the content of the Physical Activity Guidelines of audiences with limited health literacy 2. Describe how PAG communication messages and materials were developed and tested with audiences with limited literacy using focus groups and in-depth interviews. 3. Detail lessons learned about communicating about physical activity to audiences with low health literacy

Keywords: Physical Activity, Communication

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am project officer on this work and my expertise is in health communication and marketing with subtantial work on health literacy.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
See more of: Public Health Education and Health Promotion