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About the Institute Co-founders
Experts in the Field: We are national experts
in the fields of health literacy, plain language, and health communications.
We are also three of the founding members of the Clear Language
Group (CLG). See www.ClearLanguageGroup.com for
more information.
Extensive
Professional Experience: We are active, energetic learners and
practitioners, involved in wide-ranging projects that include:
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Health communication and social marketing research
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Materials development, design and testing
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eHealth applications such as structuring
and writing website
text
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Organizational change for adopting plain language
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Curriculum development
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Teaching and consulting
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We teach what we practice and practice what
we teach. Content Areas of Expertise: Our projects cover a broad
spectrum of health topics. Recent work has included:
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Addressing healthcare delivery issues including
safety and quality of care, medical decision-making, and
informed consent |
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Educating health professionals and students about health
literacy and health communication |
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Helping adults understand how to prevent, manage, and
make treatment choices about a range of conditions including
cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart failure, depression |
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Developing information accessible to consumers about
mental health, environmental health, aging, women’s
health, nutrition, and genetic research |
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Creating plain language information about Medicare and
the Affordable Care Act |
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Presenting at local, regional, and national conferences |
Available to Help You: Need
help in effective communications planning,
training, organizational capacity building, plain language materials
development? We are available year-round and serve clients across
the country.
Contact Us:
Sue Stableford (Maine): [email protected]
Wendy Mettger (Maryland): [email protected]
Audrey Riffenburgh (New Mexico): [email protected]
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 About Sue Stableford, MPH, MSB
Sue co-founded the Health Literacy
Institute at the University of New England 22 years ago with the
late Jane Root, Ph.D. Together,
they launched a statewide health literacy training program
in Maine and
then expanded it into the National Summer Institute for health
professionals from around the country.
Sue provides training
to many organizations, including large federal health agencies,
healthcare delivery systems, and
health communications
firms. She creates award-winning plain language health materials
and informed consent prototypes, consults on eHealth projects,
participates in health literacy research projects and federal
plain language
policy initiatives, and teaches in health profession education
programs. Sue's recent work focuses on developing and coaching health literacy teams in hospitals and care practices.
To contact Sue
email her at [email protected]
or call her at (207) 402-9843.
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 About Audrey Riffenburgh, MA
Audrey Riffenburgh is President of Plain Language Works (PLW), a plain language and health literacy firm based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her firm has guided professionals in the healthcare, public health, research, and disability communities in reaching their audiences with clear communications for many years. It has also directed organizations in making system-wide changes to address health literacy. In addition, PLW has created many plain language and low literacy materials in English and Spanish.
In addition to running her successful consulting business, she is a Ph.D. Candidate in Health Communication at the University of New Mexico.
Audrey was the health literacy specialist for a hospital system for three years. She led the initiative to improve all aspects of communication with patients and families as well as to change policies and processes to make the organization more "health literate."
She was on the faculty of the Health Literacy Summer Institute for many years and is a principal and founding member of the Clear Language Group. She served on the Steering Committee of the Plain Language Association InterNational and has presented at its conferences in Amsterdam, Sydney, Toronto, and Washington, DC. Audrey's expertise comes from more than 20 years in health literacy, adult literacy, and English as a second language at the local, state, and national level.
To contact Audrey,
email her at [email protected]
or call
her at (505) 345-1107.
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 About Wendy Mettger, MA
Wendy Mettger, M.A., is President of Mettger Communications, a consulting firm specializing in health literacy and plain language projects designed to reach limited-literacy, culturally diverse, and underserved audiences.
Ms. Mettger is a principal and founding member of the Clear Language Group, a nationally known consortium of health literacy, plain language, and cross cultural experts.
She is recognized nationally as the co-founder of the National Work Group on Cancer and Literacy, the first federally-sponsored collaboration between health and literacy experts, and as the co-author of the well-respected guidebook, Clear
and Simple:
Developing Effective Print Materials for Low-Literate Readers.
She draws
on over
30 years of experience and a master’s degree in health communication
to serve as a health literacy and plain language expert to many Federal government agencies, such
as the National Institute on Aging; private
corporations such as Pfizer, Inc.; and nonprofit groups such as
the American Diabetes Association, National Council on Aging, March of Dimes,
and the New York City Poison Control Center. She develops easy-to-read and
understand materials, conducts consumer-based research, and
leads
workshops at national and state conferences on how to create easy-to-read materials for individuals with limited-literacy skills. In addition, she trains health professionals, educators, and communicators on plain language materials development and clear verbal communication techniques.
She has received five NIH Plain Language Awards, two Pfizer Visiting Lecturer Awards, two Center for Plain Language Clear Mark Awards, and one Federal Government Blue Pencil Award.
Degrees:
B.A. Sociology – 1976, University of California at Irvine
M.A. Communication – 1988, University of Maryland
To contact Wendy,
email her at [email protected]
or call her at (301) 270-2774.
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