Soyoung Choi is an assistant professor of health and kinesiology and the director of the Accessible Healthcare Lab (AHL). Her research focuses on accessibility issues in health information technology to advance the health rights of people with disabilities.
In this interview, Choi shares her experience as a CSBS Small Grant recipient for her research project, “Health Literacy and Health Behaviors among People with Visual Impairments: An Explorative Study.”
Tell us briefly about your research project.
Our research team—including Dr. Chung-Yi Chiu, Dr. Jessie Chin, and myself—conducted a preliminary study to understand the characteristics of health literacy and health behaviors among adults who are blind or have low vision (BLV), whether due to congenital or acquired causes.
Health literacy refers to an individual’s ability to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health-related information to make informed decisions and sustain a healthy lifestyle. While individuals without visual impairments generally have abundant access to health information presented in diverse formats, BLV individuals often encounter substantial barriers—particularly when information is conveyed through vision-dependent formats such as printed text, charts, or visual media. These accessibility challenges can limit their engagement with essential health content and may contribute to significant disparities in health outcomes.
To address this issue, our team investigated how health literacy differs between BLV individuals and those without visual impairments. More importantly, we analyzed the relationship between health literacy and key health-promoting behaviors among BLV adults. These behaviors include personal responsibility for health, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, interpersonal relationships, and stress management. By identifying these relationships, we aimed to inform the development of more accessible, inclusive, and effective health interventions tailored to the unique needs of the BLV population.
In what ways did the CSBS Small Grant Program help you to connect with interdisciplinary collaborators at Illinois?
Regardless of how significant and innovative a research project may be, it is often extremely difficult to conduct it without funding support. At our university, Dr. Chung-Yi Chiu is an expert with deep knowledge of disability and the associated psychological responses, while Dr. Jessie Chin is an information scientist who has conducted extensive research on health literacy. I introduced both to the CSBS Small Grant Program and explained the critical need for research focused on BLV populations—a group for whom prior research and public health data are severely lacking. I shared my interest in addressing this gap and proposed that we launch a preliminary study together. The CSBS Small Grant served as an ideal internal funding mechanism to bring together experts from different disciplines to initiate this new line of research. Building upon the foundational data collected through this pilot project, our team is now taking a long-term approach with the goal of developing inclusive health interventions tailored for the BLV community.
What did the interdisciplinary collaboration allow you to do that you would not have been able to do on your own, or with collaborators from your own discipline?
I represent a rather unique case in that my current research explores an entirely new area, distinct from my doctoral dissertation work. For this reason, collaborating with experts who could offer deep insights into study design and data interpretation was not only helpful—it was essential. The core themes of my research—visual impairment, health literacy, and health behaviors—are inherently complex. They intersect with multiple dimensions of human functioning, including cognition, emotion, physical health, and sensory processing. Even with a large volume of data, accurately analyzing and interpreting it—without distortion—and identifying the appropriate direction for future research requires diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives. I strongly believe that input from experts across various fields is what ultimately prevents wasted time and resources, and ensures that the research remains meaningful, rigorous, and impactful. In this sense, the CSBS Small Grant Program played a critical role in helping me lay a solid foundation for my research through meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration.
How did the initial CSBS Small Grant funding aid in your external funding efforts?
Our research project began in 2023 and has since progressed significantly. To date, we have completed survey data collection from over 2,000 BLV participants and are now in the final stages of a mixed-methods study that includes in-depth interviews with 20 individuals. Our team is currently preparing multiple manuscripts for publication, and one paper has already been recently published. Building on this foundation, we plan to begin developing NIH grant proposals in the second half of this year. The preliminary findings and pilot data from this study will be used to demonstrate the significance and urgency of our research focus. We believe that this foundational work will serve as a critical guide for shaping the direction of subsequent studies. With this strong groundwork in place, we are confident in our ability to develop a competitive and impactful research proposal.
What advice do you have for Illinois faculty who may be interested in applying for a CSBS Small Grant?
The CSBS Small Grant Program is an incredibly valuable resource for researchers like myself who are in the early stages of exploratory or pilot studies. One of the key advantages of this program is its relatively fast application cycle and decision timeline, making it a highly efficient option for planning short- and mid-term research funding. In particular, CSBS plays a vital role in helping faculty build strong interdisciplinary research teams within the university and in supporting the collection of pilot data needed to pursue larger-scale studies. Given its responsiveness and alignment with emerging, high-impact research areas, I strongly encourage other investigators to take full advantage of this program—especially by maintaining close communication with the program coordinators to strategically develop important research initiatives.