As part of a Health Literacy Month blog series about “engaging the patient,” my column on “How the News Media May Hurt – Not Help – Health Literacy Efforts,” is now posted.
I touch on three recurring themes:
Absolute versus relative risk/benefit data
Association does not equal causation
How we discuss screening tests
Other bloggers in the month-long series include:
Cindy Brach, Senior Health Policy Researcher at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Cynthia Baur, Ph.D, Senior Health Literacy Advisor at the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Dr. Rima Rudd, Harvard University Senior Lecturer on Society
Dr. Darren DeWalt, Associate Professor of Medicine University of North Carolina
Dr. Hilary Seligman, Assistant professor of medicine University of California San Francisco
Dr. Matthew Wynia, Director of the Institute for Ethics at the American Medical Association
Andrew Jager, MA, Research Assistant at the American Medical Association Institute for Ethics
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Puleeeeease... this 'game changer' weight loss drug causes more nausea and vomiting than a placebo. Some game, some change. My friend Gary would spank you for using the eighth word medical reporters should never, ever use. @garyschwitzer @thackerpd
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/just-journalists-writing-tips-case-studies/7-words-and-more-you-shouldnt-use-in-medical-news/ https://twitter.com/OttawaCitizen/status/1361426796126830597
A scary @statnews Op-Ed warns that govt attempts to rein in Pharma may cut off access to "life-changing" drugs.
It takes @garyschwitzer to let us know: the author spent 10 years as Pfizer's public-policy chief. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1360325022578053123
.@TranspariMED criticizes STAT op-ed for not disclosing pharma funding of author’s institute - similar to criticism we’ve made of STAT op-eds in the past. @transparify @ThinkTankWatch @icer_review https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/02/transparency-watchdog-criticizes-stats-non-disclosure-on-pro-pharma-op-ed/
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