When I applied to be part of the Travelling Fellowship program with the Victorian Quality Council, I remember reading somewhere in the literature not to be too ambitious (in terms of the number of places you attempt to visit). I may have overlooked that advice - a little - though, in my defence, I think a good global perspective on health literacy is very useful. At a time when many organisations seem to be considering how health literacy fits and how they should take it on (if at all), lessons from overseas can be quite powerful; especially as the countries I am visiting are in very different places in terms of their health literacy trajectory. But managing the level of detail is pretty overwhelming when there are so many people, places and organisations to visit; setting up meetings, checking and rechecking that everything is ok, phone calls in the early hours, getting up in the middle of the night to check emails. But it's all part of the fun - perhaps even a little addictive! People have been very generous and helpful though and I feel like I've already developed some nice ongoing networks.
Thirty-six days before I leave. Most of the pieces are in place though there are still a couple of small holes in the itinerary. I'm still trying to make contact with one of the Shriner Children's Hospitals which is in LA. I understand they were an early adopter of a health literacy quality measure around consent procedures. Anyone have a contact??
