Sydney Health Literacy Lab

Rigorous research, informed decisions and better health for diverse communities

Meet the Lab 2024

 

Back Row L-R: Masum Billah; Rachael Dodd; Krista Verlis; Brooke Nickel; Fiona Lawrence; Jennifer Isautier; Matilda McLean; Olivia Mac.

Middle L-R: Carissa Bonner; Marguerite Tracy; Jolyn Hersch; Melody Taba; Katie McFadden; Eliza Ferguson; Jojo Gong; Kirsten McCaffery (Director).

Front L-R: Claire Hudson; Tara Haynes; Susan Martinez; Philomena Colagiuri; Dani Muscat; Sumathy Ravi.

Absent:  Cassia Yung; Diana Vassilenko;  Dipti Zachariah;  Erin Cvejic; Farzaneh Boroumand; Fiona Robards; Heather Shephard; Jenna Smith; Jesse Jansen; Julie Ayre; Karen Gainey; Krista Weir; Kristen Pickles; Lizzy Perks;  Lucia Marcello; Michael Zhang; Michelle Lynch; Rachael Thompson; Rebekah Laidsaar-Powell;  Sara Guinta; Shannon McKinn; Tessa Copp; Will Burns. 

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.

We believe in collaboration

The Sydney Health Literacy Lab is located within the University of Sydney School of Public Health. We have enduring partnerships in health literacy implementation and in research including strong collaboration with the NSW Health Statewide Health Literacy Hub, Wiser Healthcare, Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics,   Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute as well as other national and international researchers. This ensures our work is conducted to the highest academic standards yet is firmly embedded within the community engaged with a network of clinical practices and community groups.

Research areas

Our research can be divided into six broad themes: Shared Decision Making; Implementation Science and Behavioural Insights; Carbon Health Literacy; Equity; Low Value care/Overdiagnosis; and Applied Health Literacy.

We work in the areas of cancer, primary care, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, endocrinology, women’s health, and maternal health.

Work with us

We are always looking for enthusiastic people to work with us whether they are students, clinicians, consumers or policy makers. If you would like to enquire about collaboration, higher degree supervision or joining our Lab please contact us.