[NIFL-HEALTH:3596] Re: Health and Numeracy skills

From: Mary Vriniotis ( )
Date: Fri Mar 01 2002 - 12:11:56 EST


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Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:3596] Re: Health and Numeracy skills
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Here is a recent article discussing numeracy and
health.  I hope it helps.

Woloshin S, Schwartz LM, Moncur M, Gabriel S, Tosteson
AN (2001).  Assessing values for health: numeracy
matters.  Medical Decision Making, 21(5): 382-90.

Assessed how subjects valued their current state of
health using 3 standard assessment techniques:
standard gamble, time trade-off, and visual analog
scale.  Subjects were then asked to answer a series of
questions assessing their level of numeracy and to
rate their current global health status.  Researchers
found that low numeracy interferes with the completion
of quantitative tasks such as standard gamble and time
trade-off.  Low numeracy also interferes with the
patient's ability to perform other quantitative tasks
such as making sense of quantitative information about
the risk-reducing benefit of screening mammography. 
The authors conclude that people with low numeracy may
value their health differently than people with higher
levels of numeracy which have important implications
for researchers seeking to incorporate patient values
into medical decisions for health policy.

-Emily Zobel
Health Literacy Coordinator
Harvard School of Public Health

--- Nancy Gonzalez-Caro <GONN@etr.org> wrote:
> I'd like pose a question to the list related to
> numeracy and health issues.
> 
> What are the implications and possible solutions
> when looking at the issues of numeracy.  Let me pose
> an example.  Perhaps you have more.
> 
> For example, 
> Using a nutrition facts label.  The label offers a
> lot of information that may be confusing even to
> those of us with education and experience. 
> 
> It requires skills to be able to compare the food
> labels and choose the one lowest in fat, calories,
> or sodium.  Comparing the serving sizes and all.
> 
> So what are the pitfalls, where would adult learners
> have trouble understanding the nutrition facts
> label?
> 
> And, what are some possible ways around the issues?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nancy Gonzalez Caro, MPH
> Patient Education Specialist
> ETR Associates
> P.O. Box 1830
> Santa Cruz, CA  95061
> Phone (831) 438-4060 ex. 237
> Fax (831) 438-4284
> Email gonn@etr.org
> 


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