Rigorous research, informed decisions and better health for diverse communities

We are a research group at the University of Sydney School of Public Health. Our mission is to give all people the opportunity to have the best health outcomes for themselves and their families. This means building health literacy skills and capacities in the population and ensuring the healthcare environment is sensitive to the needs of the whole community. Our goal is to support empowered patients and consumers to make better health decisions and achieve better health outcomes for all.

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Our research seeks to

Understand

Understand the diverse needs of the community.

Develop & Test

Develop and test new knowledge or solutions to address those needs.

Implement

Implement these effectively in the community and health system.

View Our Current projects

We believe in collaboration

The Sydney Health Literacy Lab is located within the Sydney School of Public Health (University of Sydney) and the Westmead Health Literacy Hub. This ensures our work is conducted to the highest academic standards yet is firmly embedded within the community at Western Sydney – engaged with a network of clinical practices and community groups. We work in the areas of cancer, primary care, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, endocrinology, women’s health, and maternal health.

Meet the team

Recent publications

A qualitative analysis of factors influence Vietnamese ethnic minority women to seek maternal health care – Shannon McKinn et al

Dien Bien Province in northwest Vietnam is predominantly populated with ethnic minority groups, who experience worse maternal and child health outcomes than the general population. Various factors are associated with maternal health care utilisation in Vietnam, including ethnic minority status, which is recognised as a [...]

Complementary medicine products information-seeking by pregnant and breastfeeding women in Australia – Larisa Barnes et al

Complementary medicine product use in pregnancy and lactation is common but little is known about women's health literacy and information-seeking regarding this. The objectives of this study were to identify and explore pregnant or breastfeeding women's sources of, and rationale for seeking complementary medicine products [...]

Recent publications

A qualitative analysis of factors influence Vietnamese ethnic minority women to seek maternal health care – Shannon McKinn et al

Dien Bien Province in northwest Vietnam is predominantly populated with ethnic minority groups, who experience worse maternal and child health outcomes than the general population. Various factors are associated with maternal health care utilisation in Vietnam, including ethnic minority status, which is recognised as a [...]

News & Events

Watch the Plenary talks, New Frontiers in Health Literacy Research Symposium, 4 December 2018

shlladmin2019-05-16T13:12:49+10:00May 15th, 2019|

Professor Michael Paasche-Orlow (Boston University), Innovations in health literacy research. Professor Jo Protheroe (Keele University), Health literacy research in the UK. [...]

Preventing Overdiagnosis 5-7 December 2019 – Sydney

shlladmin2019-07-11T15:29:30+10:00March 27th, 2019|

UPDATED: Early Bird registration deadline 31 July 2019!

News & Events

Watch the Plenary talks, New Frontiers in Health Literacy Research Symposium, 4 December 2018

shlladmin2019-05-16T13:12:49+10:00May 15th, 2019|

Professor Michael Paasche-Orlow (Boston University), Innovations in health literacy research. Professor Jo Protheroe (Keele University), Health literacy research in the UK. [...]