[5] Through meta-analyses of health literature, McCaffery has shown that 80% of patients did not understand their home-care instructions 36 hours after leaving hospital, with 40 to 80% of information forgotten almost immediately.
She is interested in whether removing the label of 'cancer' in low-risk, likely harmless, conditions could help reduce over-diagnosis.
[6][7] In October 2020, McCaffery was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
[9] She found that these differences in COVID understanding lead to social inequalities in health outcomes.
[citation needed] Alongside health literacy, McCaffery studied the pandemic-induced rise and fall of Telehealth, and how to improve the patient experience.