Hello, friends, 

I like the idea of communicating risk by showing images of little bodies and then coloring in the number that would be affected by the situation you're discussing. For example, you might have 10 little bodies and you could color in 2 and part of another one to show 25% and/or color in 5 to show 50%. This is a concept described and advocated by John Paling, PhD who is author of "Helping Patients Understand Risks." It's a great book for both information and entertaining reading. He makes the information fun and gets his points across beautifully with humor. The book is targeted toward physicians but will benefit anyone who does patient education and communication. I highly recommend it! 

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

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Eileen Miller ECMILLE2 
  To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List 
  Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 2:52 PM
  Subject: [HealthLiteracy 2434] Re: Wednesday Question: Howdo you describe"Health Literacy" to friends?



  Janet: 
  Thank you for introducing the math concept. Recently when some of the materials produced for the grant were reviewed for readability,  reviewers had no problem with the concept of 101o F to convey fever; they did however feel that the concept of 25% or 50% chance to convey probability or inheritance was overly complicated. Does anyone have suggestions for conveying risk or probability. Specifically, the concept to be communicated is  - With each pregnancy, there is a 25% chance that your child will have disease, or a 50% chance of being a carrier. 

  Eileen Miller - Grant Manager
  Department of Public Health Education
  University of North Carolina - Greensboro
  Phone: 336-334-9814
  Fax: 336-334-3238 


        "Janet Hunt" <jhunt at hsc.wvu.edu> 
        Sent by: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov 
        11/06/2008 01:19 PM Please respond to
              The Health and Literacy Discussion List <healthliteracy at nifl.gov> 


       To "The Health and Literacy Discussion List" <healthliteracy at nifl.gov>  
              cc  
              Subject [HealthLiteracy 2419] Re: Wednesday Question: How do        you        describe"Health Literacy" to        friends? 

              

       



  One of the things missing in many of these definitions, and the thing that really sets health literacy apart from other literacy issues, is the integration of math concepts.  

  Janet B. Hunt, MPH
  Assistant Professor and 
  Practicum Director
  Department of Community Medicine
  West Virginia University
  P. O. Box 9190
  Office:  Room #3306C
  Morgantown, WV  26506-9190
  Phone:  304-293-1823
  Fax:  304-293-6685


  >>> "Laurie Cozzolino" <cozzolino at pacbell.net> 11/5/08 10:00 PM >>>
  This is a good question and not an easy one to answer.  I work in adult 
  education and ESL, so my colleagues understand more or less what I mean when 
  I say 'health literacy.'.  When I talk to other people, I realize that I 
  don't say 'health literacy.'  I say 'nutrition education' or 'health 
  education.'  What do other people say?

  Laurie Cozzolino
  San Diego Community College District



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: "Julie McKinney" <julie_mcKinney at worlded.org>
  To: <healthliteracy at nifl.gov>
  Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 6:43 PM
  Subject: [HealthLiteracy 2408] Wednesday Question: How do you 
  describe"Health Literacy" to friends?


  > Hi Everyone,
  >
  > I know we have discussed the official definition of health literacy
  > quite a bit. But I am curious about another, more informal kind of
  > description of HL. When you describe your work in health literacy to
  > friends and colleagues who are not familiar with the term, how do you
  > describe to them what health literacy is or means?
  >
  > Personally, I find that an easy description does not come easily!
  >
  > Thanks all,
  > Julie
  >
  > Julie McKinney
  > Health Literacy List Moderator
  > World Education
  > jmckinney at worlded.org 
  > ----------------------------------------------------
  > National Institute for Literacy
  > Health and Literacy mailing list
  > HealthLiteracy at nifl.gov 
  > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 
  > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/healthliteracy 
  > Email delivered to cozzolino at pacbell.net 

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