Composing Health Literacies

This edited collection examines engagements between health literacies and undergraduate writing instruction, providing research, case studies, and practical guidance on developing an interdisciplinary writing pedagogy. Bringing together works from scholars in rhetoric and composition, technical communication, UX, public health, nursing, and writing center administration, this collection showcases a range of evidence-based practices for composing, teaching, and assessing health literacies, which the readers can apply to their own contexts. Using non-specialist language accessible to instructors from a variety of backgrounds, the chapters consider the use of writing assignments including image analyses, public service announcements, podcasts, health education materials, illness narratives, public presentations, research proposals, and journal articles. The book offers a holistic overview by profiling entire writing programs, both online and face-to-face, that teach health literacies across their curricula. This evidence-based collection is essential reading for scholars and instructors in rhetoric and composition, writing in the health professions, technical communication, and health humanities, and can be used as a supplemental textbook for pedagogy courses in these fields.

Michael J. Madson is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University, USA where he teaches courses in healthcare communication and user experience. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, USA where he runs an online undergraduate writing course that explores health literacy, bioethics, and interprofessional education. He is the editor of Teaching writing in the health professions: Perspectives, problems, and practices (2022).

Introduction: The intersections of health literacies and undergraduate writing instruction Part 1: Assignments and courses Chapter 1. Engaging health literacies through multimodal projects in first-year writing Chapter 2. Teaching critical thinking for critical health literacies: A problem-based writing approach Chapter 3. First do no harm: Promoting health literacies through empathy adventures in the writing classroom and beyond Chapter 4. Rhetorical aesthetics and health literacies Chapter 5. Cross-disciplinary vaccine education through a campus-community partnership Part 2: Programs Chapter 6. Context matters: Identifying strategic opportunities to support health literacies through writing interventions Chapter 7. Reflection for health literacies in the health science curriculum Chapter 8. Writing across the health literacies curriculum: The Bachelor of Healthcare Studies program at MUSC Part 3: Extensions Chapter 9. Cultural health navigation and health literacy sponsorship: Implications for the undergraduate writing curriculum Chapter 10. Making well informed decisions: Data collection, health information, and undergraduate writing instruction Chapter 11. Creating content for contexts of care: A cognitive approach to achieving health literacies through usability