Place matters: Tailoring health literate program materials to communities through formative research

A best practice of health literacy – a theory of behavior change particularly well-suited to addressing health disparities – is to involve people early and often in the design and implementation of a public health intervention. Exactly how to do that is much less discussed or known. This presentation reports on the use of community-based formative research to tailor program materials of the Canyon Ranch Institute Life Enhancement Program (CRI LEP). A core example will be the CRI LEP Participant Guide. This is a book that each participant receives and uses. Within the CRI LEP Participant Guide are a series of fictional narratives extracted from the formative research as a way to incorporate real stories of change from the community that experiences the CRI LEP. These stories weave throughout the Participant Guide, allowing participants to see and understand how informed, healthy behavior change is possible in real lives similar to their own. Local community, culture, customs, and place names are reflected in these stories. This health literacy tailoring approach has been proven to work through implementation in widely different socio-cultural settings across the United States. Positive and healthy outcomes from the CRI LEP include significant reductions in stress, depression, unhealthy days and significant increases in healthy eating behaviors and amount of physical exercise. This presentation will detail the process used to plan the formative research, the gathering of that data through focus groups and individual interviews, and using that information to inform the narratives tailored to each community.