Sallie W. Willcox

My research interests center around how health literate, patient facing information can contribute to health outcomes and advancements in health equity. I am interested in how highly complex, medical concepts can be expressed in simplified yet meaningful ways to healthcare consumers. I am curious about how healthcare providers and clinicians can optimize their patient encounters by using the best practices of health literacy and plain language.

As a Health Literacy Specialist, I provide expertise in revising patient-facing materials created by clinician authors into plain language, applying Health Literacy best practices. I also lead workshops in health literacy basics, serve on committees to advocate for a Health Literacy framework, and teach clinicians how to find and use available patient education resources. In my role as an assistant adjunct curator with the NYU Health Sciences Library, I provide expert searching support in addition to assisting users with learning about patient education resources.