DBQ Response
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Part1dbq.docx½-1 page AMA response to classmate Cerniglia’s post
Initial post instructions were: Based on the average reading level for adults in the U.S. cited by Helen Osborne in Chapter 3 discuss how readable and usable the information is for the general public. Then comment on the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the information for a wide range of audiences and how the readability and usability of the information could be improved.
Classmate Cerniglia’s post
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Assessing the readability of health materials is a necessary step before fully utilizing those resources in a patient care setting. People who are functionally illiterate have developed coping mechanisms that allow them to coast through daily activities while continuing to live in fear of someone discovering their true reading and writing difficulties.1 Health literacy is not just reading however, it includes oral communication, number sense, basic math skills, and navigation.2
I tested the readability and grade level of a health communication published on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: Cold Versus Flu.3 This source material was found on the CDC homepage under a link titled “Do you have a cold or the flu?” It is appropriate for the season considering the flu virus affects all of the general public, no matter age, gender, or race. Everyone can be susceptible to the flu, making it an important topic for the appropriateness of health communications. The “CDC: Cold Versus Flu” received a SMOG score of 8.2 and a Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease of 60.6, yielding an average tenth- grade reading level. People typically read about “five grade levels lower than the last year of school completed”; meaning it could be difficult for someone with a high school education to read anything above a seventh-grade level.4 Altogether, this makes the information included within the CDC’s publication inaccessible to a large proportion of the general public, especially those with poor health literacy skills.
Although the grade level of the CDC website is higher than recommended, the authors did succeed in using concise language arranged in a question and answer format to aide in comprehension. The webpage also included a graphic table with large lettering and one word descriptions to quickly summarize the above sentences. One improvement would be to add some photographs or illustrations to represent the information in yet another format. Other pages of the CDC flu website do include some graphics. The website contains a drop-down menu which gives the viewer an option to translate the text into Spanish or English. The addition of other language options would also improve the site.
References
1. Health literacy and patient safety: Help patients understand. AMA Foundation YouTube video. Published Aug 27, 2010 Accessed March 25, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGtTZ_vxjyA
2. Using Health Literacy to Improve Patient Care and Outcomes. UPMC for Discovery Channel YouTube video. Published Apr 5, 2013 Accessed March 25, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-bg70l44pw&feature=youtu.be
3. Cold Versus Flu: Questions & Answers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Updated Jan 30, 2018 Accessed March 25, 2018
4. Osborne, M.Ed. Health Literacy From A to Z, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uneedu/detail.action?docID=3319392
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