Hello, everyone, 

I am so grateful for all the great changes I've seen over the 12 years I've been working with the medical community to help them be more effective communicators. When I moved from working in adult literacy to working with health care professionals, few people knew what I was talking about. But now so many people have come to an awareness of the challenges of clear health communication and improving health literacy and the systems that support it. I believe we've seen the "birth" of our field as a distinct area of study and practice in the last 8 years and I'm so grateful to have been able to "midwife" it along with others. I'm thankful for people who had a vision over a decade ago and who hung in there promoting awareness and working tirelessly for progress. 

One of those main contributors to the field who deserves recognition is Pfizer, Inc. They began with an internal initiative, expanded to an external initiative, and began funding Visiting Professorships, Fellowships, a national invitational conference, and much more. I am grateful for their leaders' commitment and vision and the results it has brought about for us all. 
Thank you, Pfizer! 

Audrey Riffenburgh, M.A., President
Riffenburgh & Associates
Specialists in Health Literacy & Plain Language since 1994
P.O. Box 6670, Albuquerque, New Mexico  87197  USA 
Phone: (505) 345-1107   E-mail: ar at plainlanguageworks.com
Founding Member, The Clear Language Group, www.clearlanguagegroup.com
Ph.D. Student in Health Communication, Univ. of New Mexico

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