Consumer Health Information Hub Evaluation
University of Maryland, School of Public Health, Horowitz Center for Health Literacy
The Context
In 2023, the Consumer Health Information Hub (“the Hub”) at the University of Maryland’s Horowitz Center for Health Literacy was created under Maryland House Bill 1082. This bill requires state and local agencies to ensure that public communications about health, health insurance, safety, and social services benefits follow best practices in plain language use, language access, and distribution. The Hub partnered with Sharp Insight to support the monitoring and evaluation of its activities and impact.
Our Approach
Throughout the initiative, the Hub and Sharp Insight teams worked collaboratively to develop evaluation questions, a logic model, and an evaluation plan to guide the work. To elicit external feedback and ensure that the logic model aligned with the initiative’s goals, we shared the logic model during the Hub’s October 2023 convening of state and local practitioners as well as with the Hub’s State Working group. Guided by the evaluation planning activities, Sharp Insight and the Hub co-developed tools including an internal activity tracker, post-webinar and convening surveys, end-of-year partner surveys, and end-of-year partner interview guides.
The Result
Findings from the evaluation were presented in annual technical reports for the Hub as well as in annual reports to the state legislators. Key evaluation highlights reported by state and local practitioners who were supported by the Hub included:
High satisfaction with the Hub’s work
Increased confidence and skills in creating plain language materials
Expanded use of Hub-developed tools such as the Maryland Plain Language Checklist and the Web Content Review Tool to increase the availability of materials in plain and primary languages
The logic model, evaluation plan, annual reports, and additional information are available on the Consumer Health Information Hub’s website.
“We've enjoyed our experience collaborating on the Hub with the Sharp Insight team. They are great listeners and thought partners, and the work is truly a result of our joint efforts.”
— Cynthia Baur, Ph.D., Director, Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, Horowitz Endowed Chair in Health Literacy, University of Maryland School of Public Health, UMD Pandemic Readiness Initiative Co-Director, Maryland Consumer Health Information Hub Director
