Nov 17, 2017 - final health literacy toolkit. Health literacy is âthe degree to which individuals have the capacity to
Request for Proposals Innovations in Health Literacy Outreach and Education Community Science is seeking help in finding innovative practices/strategies and tools to reach and educate American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals and other racial/ethnic minority populations, as well as those with limited English proficiency, low literacy, or low health literacy about essential health messages (e.g., the importance of obtaining health insurance coverage and the benefits of using preventive health care). We are interested in collecting promising practices, strategies, and tools that can be adapted to reach and educate people served by community-based organizations, faithbased organizations, and social service organizations. Community Science will fund 15–20 individuals or organizations to assist with creating a health literacy toolkit. Selected applicants will receive $2,000 each to be interviewed about their practice/strategy/tool, provide materials about its development and implementation, and review the final health literacy toolkit. Health literacy is “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions”1. The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy2 expands on this definition by describing health literacy as “a complex phenomenon that involves skills, knowledge, and the expectation that health professionals have of the public’s interest in and understanding of health information and services.” These broad definitions point to health literacy being about both knowledge/skill and environment. Health literacy is the overlap between someone’s health knowledge, and their health environment, that allows them to function within a healthcare system. Health literacy innovations, then, can target the health knowledge/skills of individuals, and/or the health environment where they must function. The promising practices selected must align with this definition of health literacy.
What are promising innovative practices in health literacy? For the purpose of this call for proposals, potential promising practices/strategies/tools must:
Be new and/or creative ways to educate racial and ethnic minority and historically underserved populations on essential health messages; Lend themselves well to adaptation and adoption/replication; If related to technology, use open source technology (i.e., the technology is available to the public) so as to facilitate adaptation and adoption/replication.
Practices/strategies/tools can be completely new or an improvement of a proven practice. The most common health literacy practice is to translate health messages into plain language. Practices that focus on the use of plain language, without improving upon this practice, will not be considered innovative. One such example of an improvement on the plain language strategy could include a more culturally appropriate way to deliver health information. For instance, one program used plain language and
1
Ratzan, S. C. & Parker, R. M. (2000). Introduction. In Selden, C. R., Zorn, M., Ratzan, S. C., & Parker, R. M. (Eds.), National Library of Medicine current bibliographies in medicine: Health literacy. NLM Pub. No. CBM 2011 2000-1. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health. 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2010). National action plan to improve health literacy. Washington, DC; 2010.
pictures to create a fotonovela that delivers health education messages to older Latino adults.3 This changes the simple plain language approach to include a more culturally relevant delivery of health information, and would be considered innovative. The new or creative components of a practice/strategy/tool can include, but are not limited to:
Level of Influence: Who or what is the practice/strategy/tool influencing? Example: the individual, person-to-person interactions (i.e., between patient and healthcare provider), an organization, a community, etc. Setting: Where does this practice/strategy/tool take place? Example: pharmacy, community, inhome, referral visit, virtual, etc. Point of Intervention: What is changing as a result of this strategy or practice? Example: the health message, the messenger, delivery, process/infrastructure, etc. Message Delivery: Verbal communication, written communication, numeric, pictorial, cultural, technological, audiovisual, etc. Strategy: Proven strategies that are used and improved upon- use of plain language, teach-back method, need to know/need to do method, etc.
Who is eligible to apply? Applicants for this funding may include, but are not limited to:
National or regional associations; Community-based organizations; Faith-based groups; Social service organizations; Statewide or regional health coalitions (with a fiscal agent, see frequently asked questions below); School, university, academic, or research institutions; State or local governments; Healthcare delivery organizations and care associations; and Individual developers not connected to an organization.
What are the selection criteria? The successful applicant will: 1. Have experience delivering health messages to a racial/ethnic minority population using a specific practice/strategy/tool. 2. Have collected evidence of the practice/strategy/tool’s successes. 3. Have a description on the protocol and instructions for using and replicating the practice/strategy/tool. 4. Have sole ownership of the practice/strategy/tool, or have obtained approval to disseminate or have consent to use and distribute the practice. For instance, if the practice/strategy/tool is an adaption of material with a copyright, written consent must be submitted along with the application materials. More technical legal terms are included below for further clarification. a. For preexisting practices/strategies/tools (collectively, “Preexisting Innovations”), show that the Preexisting Innovations have been made or discovered or conceived or first 3
Valle, R., Yamada, A., and Matiella, A. (2006). Fotovelas: A health literacy tool for educating Latino older adults about dementia. Clinical Gerontologist, 30(1), 71-88. doi: 10.1300/J018v30n01_06
reduced to practice by the applicant or jointly with others, and the applicant shall provide in writing with its proposal all necessary consent(s) and approval(s) to use, distribute, sell, sublicense, or possess the Preexisting Innovations for the work contemplated herein; or (b) for Preexisting Innovations that have not been made or discovered or conceived or first reduced to practice by the applicant or jointly with others, provide in writing with its proposal all necessary consent(s) and approval(s) to use, distribute, sell, sublicense, or possess the Preexisting Innovations for the work contemplated herein. The applicant is not now infringing, and will not for the term of the agreement contemplated herein, infringe upon any intellectual property (or rights therein) of any third party.
What are the expectations for selected applicants? Selected applicants will be expected to participate in at least two in-depth interviews to discuss the practice/strategy/tool and be available for follow-up as needed. They must also provide relevant materials on the practice itself and evidence of the practice’s effectiveness. Selected applicants must be available to provide ongoing feedback and do a final review of the toolkit.
When is the application deadline? The application, along with all supporting materials, is due on November 17, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. PST. The details of the application process, including the online application link, are provided in Attachment A.
Contact: Please direct inquiries to:
Lindsay Bynum, Ph.D. Senior Analyst, Community Science 240-813-9266
[email protected]
Attachment A Instructions for Submitting the Application The deadline to submit your full application is November 17, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. PST No applications will be accepted after this deadline. Please note that you will have to complete the online application in one session. You will not be able to save progress if you exit before submitting. The following is a checklist of information that you will need to include in the application. Please be sure to have this information ready before beginning the online application. Note: You have the option to copy and paste your responses from a word processor to the online application. Your organization’s contact information, including a contact person, address, phone number, and email Identification of key participating project staff: program director/coordinator, outreach coordinator, the developer of the strategy, and/or the primary implementer of the strategy (include contact information) A narrative describing the health literacy needs of the population served, and the issue your practice/strategy/tool addresses (limit to 3300 characters including spaces) A narrative describing the health literacy promising practice that you have developed and/or implemented, why it should be considered innovative, and evidence supporting its effectiveness (limit to 3300 characters including spaces) Any necessary consent documents (refer to the fourth selection criterion above)
To complete the online application, please click here and follow the instructions. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Health Literacy Toolkit Project Team at
[email protected] or 240-813-9266.
Attachment B Frequently Asked Questions How many groups/ individuals will be selected? Approximately 15–20 organizations or individuals will be selected. When will the decision of selected applications be announced? Mid December, 2017. How will selected applicants be notified of award decisions? Selected applicants will receive an email with a formal letter from Community Science. How much funding is available? $2,000 total will be given to each selected applicant. The money will be distributed in two payments; half at the beginning of the project and the remaining half at the end of the project. When will the funding become available if an award is received? Funds will be distributed once selected applicants sign a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with Community Science. Can two or more groups or organizations apply together? Two or more groups or organizations may submit a joint application; however, Community Science will only provide funds to one organization per selected application. Division of funds should be decided between organizations. What is a fiscal agent, and do I need one? A fiscal agent is an organization that performs various financial duties on behalf of another party. Organizations, such as statewide or regional health coalitions that do not have the structure in place to receive external funding through their institution need to have a fiscal agent who can accept funds on their behalf. An individual receiving funds must provide Community Science with a 1099 tax form prior to receiving the initial payment. What if the practice/strategy/tool is an adaptation that the applicant did not develop? If the innovation is an adaptation of someone else’s intellectual property (i.e., a copyrighted tool or training program), then the original developer must give permission for the innovation to be shared. Consent should be provided along with other application materials (refer to selection criterion number four above).
