Persistent Themes: Health Literacy and Incentive Plans

09-25-2007 | Categories:

New Articles Echo Previous Posts

Two articles have appeared in the lay press in the past 24 hours that focus on topics recently addressed in this blog.

Health Literacy

In today’s Chicago Tribune, Literacy can be a matter of life and death By Leslie Goldman examines the crisis caused by the inability of large numbers of patients to understand basic medical instructions, resonating with several AlignMap entries, including Health Literacy , Medication Leaflets, and The Gap Betwixt, Health Literacy: A Clear Problem Without A Clear Solution, and Healthcare Illiteracy Linked To Higher Mortality Among Elderly .

This short piece features intimidating statistics from pertinent studies, such as the following:

Dr. David Baker, chief of general internal medicine at the school, and his colleagues followed 3,260 patients older than 65 and found that one-quarter were deemed medically illiterate based on tests of their ability to comprehend common medical information such as prescription labels, appointment slips and instructions on preparing for an X-ray. This resulted in problems far greater than missed doctor visits or one too few pills swallowed: Those people with poor health literacy had a 50 percent higher mortality rate over five years compared with peers who had adequate reading skills.

Compensatory measures healthcare professionals can make are also discussed.

This article can be found at Literacy can be a matter of life and death

Incentives For Results Rather Than Enrollment

An article By Elizabeth Dunbar in the 24 Sept 2007 Washington Post, Study: Money Can Prod One To Lose Weight adds to themes raised in Monetary Incentives To Decrease Obesity and Another Case Of Cash For Compliance, reporting that

research published in the September issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that cash incentives can be a success even when the payout is as little as $7 for dropping just a few pounds in three months.

The article focuses on the economic benefits such an incentive plan, which provides no help to participants on how lose weight, would hold for employers:

Unlike providing onsite fitness centers or improving offerings in the company cafeteria, cash rewards provide a company with a guaranteed return, the researchers said. “They really can’t be a bad investment because you don’t pay people unless they lose weight,”

Details of the study itself and further consideration of its implications can be found at Money Can Prod One to Lose Weight

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