If you know my work, you know that I think a lot about, what I call, the Simplicity Complex – examining the upsides and the downsides of simplifying (often over-simplifying) the language used to communicate about health. The most persistent recommendation from researchers and practitioners in the field of health literacy – simplify the words….and sentences […]
Christina Zarcadoolas, PhD June 8 2020 Ask adults in the US if antibiotics kill viruses or bacteria and many will respond incorrectly. As for naming the steps in the scientific method half are in the dark. And probe the purpose of a control group in a new drug’s development and you’re likely to get blank stares […]
Click Here to View Video Many thanks again to the participants some from as far away as Carla White and Susan Reid from Health Literacy New Zealand, who participated in my recent Soundbite Series: Covid and Health Literacy One thing that came out of those exchanges of materials and ideas is that it would be productive to share […]
Some nice insights from researchers in LondonLSE Covid 19 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2020/05/19/the-public-doesnt-understand-logarithmic-graphs-often-used-to-portray-covid-19/#comment-51 See also my April post on numeracy.
Continuing on here with the examples of the unintentional ways simplified, “easy to ready” health information doesn’t meet the challenge of educating and preparing the public to better understand and take actions in complex emergencies like COVID19. EXHIBIT #2 The Infographic We have grown used to seeing graphically dominant posters, or “infographics” promoting and reminding people […]
Since the early 90s, in response to large scale national studies revealing the low health literacy of at least half of the population, public health experts have promoted a “prescription to end confusion”. Simple, “easy-to-read” “plain language” to yield improved health literacy, and thus improved health behaviors and better health outcomes. For just as many […]
In one of the many information-filled updates given by the White House Task Force on Covid Dr. Deborah Birx was discussing the importance of antibody testing and she said: The antibody piece is critical, as you described, because at this time, we can’t – if we have – let’s say asymptomatic status is inversely – […]
Covid 19 is complex. Complex science. Complex health. Complex social behavior. It’s by definition a complex emergency. And we know from 30 years of research that, millions and millions ( maybe 50%) of the US public has great difficulty with fundamental science concepts, health information and also has poor reading skills. The popular wisdom held by many in the […]
This is the 4th in a series of Soundbites: Health Literacy and Covid We’ve simplified and DISTILLED OUT most of the FOUNDATIONAL HEALTH AND SCIENCE CONCEPTS from easy to read/ simplified information. During a pandemic this puts many millions at disproportionate risk. Click HERE to view the video seminar
Yesterday I was listening to author Reid Wilson, Epidemic: Ebola and the Global Scramble to Prevent the Next Killer Outbreak talk about epidemics on NPR yesterday. He was reflecting on what occurred during the Ebola outbreak and how it relates to today’s Covid19 pandemic. He was using a powerful example of how people in West Africa changed their […]
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