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Session 8 Track 2: Making Clinical Research Understandable: Advancing Health Literacy and Age-Appropriate Clinical Trial Communications
Session Chair(s)
Andrea Clark, PhD
Principal Medical Writer, Eldridge Writing & Consulting LLC, United States
Health literacy is a foundational medical writing competency that can improve clarity, usability, and stakeholder understanding across the clinical research lifecycle. This session will explore how health literacy training can support more effective clinical research communications. With a focus on pediatric clinical trials, attendees will examine how to develop communications that are understandable, engaging, and appropriate for children’s developmental stages. Participants will gain a practical framework for applying health literacy principles and designing age-appropriate clinical trial communications.
Learning Objective : - Apply health literacy principles to clinical research communications to improve clarity, usability, and stakeholder understanding.
- Integrate health literacy competencies to support study implementation, facilitate review, and strengthen medical writing capabilities.
- Analyze the communication needs of pediatric trial participants.
- Design and assess age-appropriate pediatric clinical trial communications to improve engagement
Speaker(s)
Health Literacy as a Core Medical Writing Competency: Developing Future-Ready Writers for Clinical Research Communication
Maureen Kashuba, BSN
Sr. Director, Head of Health Literacy Medical Writing, Merck & Co., Inc., United States
Kids Are Not Small Adults: Creating Age-Appropriate Clinical Trial Communications Through Best Practices and Patient Voice
Karen Hinkle, PhD
Associate Director, Medical Writing, Boehringer Ingelheim , United States
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