The Influence of Dr. Rima Rudd's Organizational Health Literacy Scholarship in Maryland

Abstract

Background: This article analyzes and reflects on Dr. Rima Rudd's organizational health literacy ideas and tools and their influence on the field generally and on four projects over 12 years in Maryland specifically. Objective: We present four organizational health literacy projects – two from oral health and two from COVID-19 vaccination – that used or were influenced by Dr. Rudd's the Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers. Methods: In the oral health projects, we describe the organizational assessments we conducted, the assessment results, and the actions organizations took in response. In a Frederick, Maryland, COVID-19 project, we worked with multiple organizations in a single city to train them in the organizational assessment process, and we report the activities and results of this training. In the Baltimore, Maryland COVID-19 project, we provided general information about organizational health literacy and trained key health professionals in local organizations. Key Results: Our results confirm that Dr. Rudd's tools work mainly as intended because they help organizations or third-party evaluators identify health literacy barriers and create health literacy insights. Also, we observed that organizational health literacy tools can support organizations' interest in equity goals and increase their willingness to spend time on health literacy projects. Conclusions: Translating knowledge and skills to actions can require more time than organizations can commit or be more difficult than they can handle. In our projects, the four most positive examples were driven by a collaboration between our team and a change champion who had the power to institute new ideas and actions. While it can take time and money to gain traction, our Maryland work shows that organizational assessments are accessible, practical and tangible. We conclude that Dr. Rudd's influence extends beyond specific tools and is reflected in the field's acceptance of organizational and professional responsibility for health literacy as an equity and justice issue. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2024;8(3):e151–e158.]