Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #84

[tresir2012]

So now we have gone full circle. IMO

Literacy is and has been an issue in the control of covid.
Not the only issue, but one of the issues.

Language not literacy appears to have been the problem in the example you have given. And we have seen that the conditions people live and work have been the cause - care homes, factories, prisons, universities, schools, hospitals, jails, pubs, to name a few.

 

[10ofRods]

Do they have internet, phones, social media and television ?

Do you think those sources are enough to give the average person the knowledge they need to prevent a bad case of CoVid?

We have no national broadcast TV in the US any longer. No public television. No PSA's. All over the US and the UK, profs report that students do not know what an "aerosol" might be, nor do they understand what micron is or how to assess the effectiveness of masking materials. Most don't know what PPE is. Still, it seems that the UK's college students possess a greater amount of scientific literacy than those of the US.

That doesn't keep the UK profs from worrying about declining levels of scientific literacy.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ntific_literacy_seriously_as_a_curriculum_aim

US profs know they have a problem and have had a problem since the 1980's...

 

[10ofRods]

Language not literacy appears to have been the problem in the example you have given. And we have seen that the conditions people live and work have been the cause - care homes, factories, prisons, universities, schools, hospitals, jails, pubs, to name a few.

Believe it or not, language and literacy are closely related. The first is a human universal, the second is not and is harder to acquire.

But they are very much interrelated.

You seem to think that people randomly end up in jobs, with no relationship to their education. That isn't true. Care home workers both in the UK and the US are among the least educated "paraprofessionals." California has actual requirements for the mainstay of staffing in care homes (must be an LVN - which means 18 units biomedical work at a community college).

RN's are in short supply here and do not work in care homes. There's a relationship here. The people who run care homes are not Ph.D.'s in nursing, nor even B.A.'s in nursing. They are often people with only the barest form of scientific literacy. IMO.

 

[24Roses]

Iowa numbers today: As of 10:00-11:00 a.m., we had 1,595 new confirmed cases for a total of 106,147 confirmed cases of which 81,472 had recovered (+986). 5 more had passed away for a total of 1,526. 55 were hospitalized in the last 24 hrs. for a total of 461 (a decrease of 7. There are 25,661 active positive cases. Oct. 17: 1,595 new cases, 986 recoveries, and 5 deaths
Iowa COVID-19 Information

 

[CSIDreamer]

So now we have gone full circle. IMO

Literacy is and has been an issue in the control of covid.
Not the only issue, but one of the issues.

Interpreters seem to speak to a language barrier, not whether someone is illiterate. JMO.

 

[SouthAussie]

Language not literacy appears to have been the problem in the example you have given. And we have seen that the conditions people live and work have been the cause - care homes, factories, prisons, universities, schools, hospitals, jails, pubs, to name a few.

These people did not understand what 'quarantine' meant. And they were required to quarantine. They understood the written language and little pictures about washing hands and staying apart.

Unless you have lived closely among these other cultures, I don't expect some people to understand or accept what I am trying to get across.

So at this point in time, I am going to stop trying to explain.

 

[CSIDreamer]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/heal...1c8a18-d053-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html

“Fear of covid-19 is exposing a lack of health literacy in this country that is not new. The confusion is amplified during a health emergency, however, by half-truths swirling in social media and misinformed statements by people in the public eye.

One in five people struggle with health information, says Michael S. Wolf, director of the Center for Applied Health Research on Aging at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

“It’s easy to misunderstand [medical information],” says Wolf, who is also founding director of the medical school’s Health Literacy and Learning Program. Some will be too ashamed to say so while others won’t realize they missed a critical detail.

The people most likely to have low health literacy include those dying in greater numbers from covid-19: older adults, racial and ethnic minorities, nonnative English speakers, and people with low income and education levels.”

Huh. I wonder if obese people are health illiterate? That's thought provoking. If I recall, diabetes is the 2nd highest comorbidity. I'm kind of taken aback by this train of thought I'm having. JMO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I don't know who the person is but I like the ad.

Here is one short ad that they are running here at the moment. Using a much-liked personality to help (light-heartedly) promote the idea.

 

[tresir2012]

I think a couple of us posted about this.

The thing is, there's a lot of misinterpretation of MSM and other publications here on this thread, IMO. Yet, I'd say that everyone here is fairly literate. Scientific literacy is different than public school literacy.

Scientific literacy means being able to understand what the methodology section of a study might say. Is it a good study?

Sadly, many do not understand the difference between various types of immunity, or even between bacteria and viruses. Saying "this is an RNA virus" means nothing to many people - but in some nations, a huge chunk would know what that mean (and therefore, be more likely to read up on RNA based vaccines).

"Monoclonal antibody" keeps getting typed out here, but...do people really know what it means? I've been using the somewhat dated term "humoral immunity" to call out the people who think that IgG antibodies are "immunity" (they are perhaps the easiest and most cost effective to test). IgM antibodies are of real interest in regard to CoVid - but I don't see many people making that distinction or talking/writing about it.

Long-lasting immunity is not measured on those common serology tests. (And I'm pretty sure that the word "serology" is not one that most people use in their daily lives).

Germany has very high scientific literacy (and you can see that in their forums and online comments about CoVid - including on English-speaking forums, as most Germans are scientifically fluent in English). Japan has high scientific literacy, and I daresay that they understand that airborne viral transmission is a thing.

The virus doesn't know this though. It just targets people living and working in close proximity to each other.

 

[SouthAussie]

I don't know who the person is but I like the ad.

You don't know Hamish? He is a comedian here. Part of the old Hamish and Andy team (morning radio personalities also).

Hamish & Andy

 

[tresir2012]

Believe it or not, language and literacy are closely related. The first is a human universal, the second is not and is harder to acquire.

But they are very much interrelated.

You seem to think that people randomly end up in jobs, with no relationship to their education. That isn't true. Care home workers both in the UK and the US are among the least educated "paraprofessionals." California has actual requirements for the mainstay of staffing in care homes (must be an LVN - which means 18 units biomedical work at a community college).

RN's are in short supply here and do not work in care homes. There's a relationship here. The people who run care homes are not Ph.D.'s in nursing, nor even B.A.'s in nursing. They are often people with only the barest form of scientific literacy. IMO.

If literacy or even health literacy were a feature in this pandemic then we would not have such a high number of hospital workers and patients catching it. They would be the most informed group one would think. Then University students would also be the least likely to get it. But that is not happening either. And people often end up in jobs based on their circumstances eg. Not having a Visa or a work permit for instance, and not based on literacy or education. Or just wanting a holiday job.

 

[tresir2012]

Huh. I wonder if obese people are health illiterate? That's thought provoking. If I recall, diabetes is the 2nd highest comorbidity. I'm kind of taken aback by this train of thought I'm having. JMO

Smokers and drinkers and anyone with a health condition like type 2 diabetes or dementia are probably as well then.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks South! I have heard the name, just had no idea what he looked like.

You don't know Hamish? He is a comedian here. Part of the old Hamish and Andy team (morning radio personalities also).

 

[SouthAussie]

NYC is not the Bemidji Minnesota rally. This is the story and my post.

This article may interest you.



What we found was sobering yet not surprising. Spikes in Covid-19 cases occurred in seven of the 14 cities and townships where these rallies were held: Tulsa; Phoenix; Old Forge, Penn.; Bemidji, Minn.; Mankato, Minn.; Oshkosh, Wis.; and Weston, Wis.

Campaign Rallies Leave a Trail of Community Outbreaks

 

[LadyL]

He's also quite fit, not fat, muscular but not bulky, etc. It's hard to know if he had some other underlying condition but I'm guessing he simply let the symptoms build up until he required supplemental oxygen and that when he left the hospital environment to return to regular breathing, he got into acute trouble.

33 years old. Fitness influencer, Male, not tall, not bulky, not fat. Dead.

he had heart issues

 

[LadyL]

Under the Affordable Care Act, you can buy health insurance with a low monthly premium, but you may have to pay the first $5,000-$6,000 in costs out of your own pocket—including the cost of insulin.

Insulin is expensive. You also need a meter plus test strips. The costs add up quickly for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics.

Some are fortunate to have an insulin pump but the supplies even with insurance are expensive. You have sensors, cartridges, reservoirs, tubing, special adhesives, alcohol wipes, chargers, etc.
People ration their insulin. Putting them at great risk.

[bbm]

very disturbing

 

[mickey2942]

Literacy in the United States - Wikipedia

I have often felt that the literacy rate in the United States is over estimated. Honestly, I believe that over 50% of the population in the United States has basic functional literacy.

 

[mickey2942]

Has anyone been working from home during Covid? I am looking at tax deductions for working from home, seems complicated to me. Maybe they will simplify it for next year, like a "Standard home office" deduction. That includes internet, cell phone, peripherals. Not just square feet for office.

 

[SouthAussie]

I agree. I've actually brought up literacy because I recall some comments along the lines of "state x is fairly literate" and "most people have the mentality of a 7th grader". Paraphrasing because the exact verbiage escapes me. I think we are living in extremely stressful times and it's probably easier to help our communities by being kind rather than well, not kind. Basing this on my assumption we are all trying to help out. JMO

I don't feel that it is unkind to try to explain the lack of mask wearing and ignoring of other covid guidelines as people being scientifically/medically/culturally illiterate. I think it is giving them benefit of doubt ... which is a kind thing to do.

Because we are now 7 months in to this thing, with requirements/guidelines having clearly been (and being) explained over and over and over by learned medical experts and learned leaders.

Unless there is an ongoing issue with oppositional defiance perhaps?

IMO

 

[10ofRods]

Literacy in the United States - Wikipedia

I have often felt that the literacy rate in the United States is over estimated. Honestly, I believe that over 50% of the population in the United States has basic functional literacy.

Official number is that 14% are functionally illiterate. That means below 6th grade level; person struggles to remember one sentence while attempting to follow the next sentence. 6th graders are supposed to be able to read and pull out the main conclusions/ideas of a paragraph.

But I agree with you that it's actually higher than that. Of course, my bias is that I mostly teach young adults. I've taught in more places than just California, and it was not any different (W. Texas, NM, Washington state). My good friend, who studies this issue, says same for her work in Massachusetts (where it's clearly better than in NM) and in Illinois.

What I notice is reading fatigue. If I put too many questions on a test (say...more than 10-12?), the ability to answer correctly takes a dive at about the 8th question. So, sustained reading is difficult for many people. That's why so many people read the headline and think it truly summarizes an article - but...well...it's rarely that simple.