Horowitz Center for Health Literacy

10/01/2026

October is Health Literacy Month!

Our campaign launches today with Dr. Cynthia Baur, Horowitz Center for Health Literacy Director, sharing why the Center promotes plain language as a key health literacy technique.

Throughout October, we’ll highlight our partners’ perspectives and experiences with plain language. Stay tuned!

09/30/2026

October is Health Literacy Month!

It’s a great time to explore resources that can help you build health literacy in your organization and community.

InformationLiteracy.gov offers a collection of free health literacy resources for educators and professionals, including lesson plans, activities, teaching strategies, and more.

Explore the collection and find resources to share with your colleagues and community members: bit.ly/HealthLiteracyMonth26

09/23/2026

Be part of the inaugural class for UMD’s new MPH in Health Literacy and Public Health Communication! This practice-oriented degree prepares working professionals with the knowledge and skills to be effective public health communicators. This new program will be offered in person and online.

The Department of Behavioral and Community Health will hold virtual information sessions from September 2026 to April 2027 to share more about this exciting opportunity!

09/16/2026

Only 3 weeks left to register for the webinar titled Advancing Health Literacy in Maryland with the Health Literacy Organizational Seal Program Part 2! This webinar will take place October 5, 2026 at 10 AM EST.

Join the Maryland Hub team in Health Literacy Month for a discussion of the application process and the lessons learned about the Health Literacy Organizational Seal. Dr. Cynthia Baur, Director of the Horowitz Center, and Lindsay Rosenfeld, PhD, consultant on the seal program, will review what the Hub team has learned from organizations participating in the pilot Seal program, the updated application process, and how your organization can implement health literacy in your organization, even if it’s not ready for the full Seal.

Register now!

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: October Hub Webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

09/09/2026

The Horowitz Center is proud to honor Dr. Rima Rudd’s health literacy work by offering a curated collection of her resources on our website. Dr. Rudd is a founding health literacy scholar and Emeritus faculty within the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Included in the collection is the Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers (HLE2) assessment tool. Organizations are encouraged to use the HLE2 to identify literacy barriers, prioritize key areas for action, and measure progress in health literacy over time.

The Horowitz Center is proud to offer a curated collection of Dr. Rima Rudd's original health literacy resources, along with the essential text, Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills by Doak, Doak, and Root. Dr. Rudd is a founding health literacy scholar and in 2023, transitioned to Emerita Fac...

09/02/2026

Free Training Opportunity for Pre-Med Students, Saturday October 3

This FREE event from the Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) will equip pre-med undergraduate students with foundational health literacy knowledge, practical communication skills, and actionable strategies to enhance patient care and advocate for the integration of health literacy into medical education. Get a jump on those communication skills before med school!

Registration for the conference is now open:

Saturday, Oct 3, 2026 | Virtual IHA’s National Pre-Med Health Literacy Conference Overview IHA’s National Pre-Med Health Literacy Conference is a free, student-led virtual event for undergraduate students who are preparing to become future physicians. This conference introduces participants to t...

08/26/2026

Back to School - Health Literacy Courses at UMD

Maybe you know the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy for our health literacy work in the community, but we also educate public health students! The Horowitz Center offers undergraduate and graduate health literacy courses every school year at UMD. The courses provide students with the opportunity to learn about health literacy in action and how to create accurate and accessible information for all!

Our course syllabi are on our website along with information about our other student resources!

Are you an educator looking to incorporate health literacy into your teaching, curriculum, or professional practice? Visit our Education and Health Literacy page for our Educators Toolkit.

08/19/2026

Good Questions for Good Health Workshop in English and Spanish!

Help community members prepare for healthcare visits with the workshop Good Questions for Good Health created by the Hub team. This workshop helps adults feel more confident when talking to doctors and other healthcare providers.

The Horowitz Center provides the slides and speaker notes, and you can tailor the session to your organization. The materials are based on easy-to-understand CDC content and include fun, interactive group activities and role-playing to build real-life communication skills!

You and your healthcare providers can work together to help you manage your health. Asking questions helps you better understand your health, treatment, and self-care requirements.

08/12/2026

Monday, October 5, 2026 @10 AM EST | Webinar - Advancing Health Literacy in Maryland with the Health Literacy Organizational Seal Program Part 2

Join the Maryland Hub team during Health Literacy Month for a discussion of the application process and the lessons learned about the Health Literacy Organizational Seal.

Dr. Cynthia Baur, Director of the Horowitz Center, and Lindsay Rosenfeld, PhD, consultant on the seal program, will review what the Hub team has learned from organizations participating in the pilot Seal program, the updated application process, and how your organization can implement health literacy in your organization, even if it’s not ready for the full Seal.

Register now!

Download our essential tools: the Maryland Plain Language Checklist and our Web Content Review Tool. The resources on this page will help you plan, assess, and revise your communications using science-based and best practices approaches to plain language and clear communication.

08/05/2026

Online Training for Community Health Workers - English and Spanish

Sign up for the Health Literacy for Community Health Workers training in Spanish or English on the University of Maryland Open Learning Platform. This self-paced training introduces CHWs to the fundamentals of health literacy and supports them in applying these strategies in their everyday work. Please share this widely with your networks!

https://umd-sph-train.catalog.instructure.com/courses/health-literacy-for-chws

Capacitación en línea para Trabajadores de Salud Comunitarios (CHWs, por sus siglas en inglés) – Disponible en inglés y español

Inscríbase en la capacitación de Alfabetización en Salud para Trabajadores de la Salud Comunitarios, disponible en español o en inglés en la Plataforma de Aprendizaje Abierto de la Universidad de Maryland. Este curso, a su propio ritmo, presenta a los promotores de salud los conceptos básicos de la alfabetización en salud y les ayuda a aplicar estas estrategias en su trabajo diario. ¡Por favor, comparta ampliamente esta información con sus contactos!

https://umd-sph-train.catalog.instructure.com/courses/health-literacy-for-chws-spanish-external

Description of the photo: Community members attend the training led by a presenter.