Have you ever gone to the doctor's office and given some kind of brochure or handout that you didn't quite understand? How about those slips of paper that have prescription info on it? Do you even read them? Most of don't...why? If you ever have (if you haven't you probably should), you will see why you didn't want to read it in the first place. Some prescriptions look like they are going to do more harm than good, and some informational brochures leave you with more questions than answers. Now think about your parents or grandparents. Do they struggle with medical information that they receive?
The reality is most Americans have a average literacy of 5th or 6th grade. Does our medical material reflect this? In most cases it does not. What is a consent form? What does it mean if you are high risk? What is moderate vs. vigorous exercising? These words and phrases are not everyday jargon, and can easily go over one's head. The issue tackled this week in our Health Communication class is to be aware of this concept of the level of health literacy in the populations we deal with. You may think, well duh! But you would quite surprised to find that most health professionals forget to leave their jargon in the break room. This week's big lesson is keep it simple. It sounds simple enough, but can be harder to do if your profession is surrounded with terminology. The key is to remember the show: Are You Smarter Than a 6th Grader? The smarts and experience may be there...but for most of those who watch that show...you have probably learned we definitely need to simply those questions and make them applicable to everyone. The same needs to be done with our health communication messages.
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