Peter, probably your 90 million means 90 million adults, since
one doesn't expect such knowledge of children. There are about 200 million
US adults, so while the survey indicates that half have limited health literacy,
it also indicates that half have more than that.
Having an Hispanic background is not usually a handicap,
since there are a large number of Hispanic physicians and other health
personnel. My insurance booklet gives their language knowledge, and
most practitioners claim to know more than one language. My pharmacy
will print information drug booklets and labels in many languages.
Patient groups can be very effective communicators. For example, the
MS groups circulate news of not just papers and announced trials, but
of grants awarded. They sometimes are faster than the usual
medical news sources, let alone formal publication of the results.
I agree with your judgement that no responsible OA advocate thinks
information dissemination the critical limiting factor in
medical or other research. It is however one of the factors involved, and one
that is easily and inexpensively overcome. it is not irresponsible to suggest
that the perhaps 5% of money spent here might have a greater effect
than a mere 5% increase in grants--where perhaps at least 50%
increases are called for.
And I also agree than extending medical care is more critical for the US now
than any other element. This is best done by propaganda and politics, and
the rest of us expect the medical societies to lead the way, for most scientists
& librarians have little skill in this, while you and you colleagues are expert.
We can only do what every citizen should be doing.
The only thing we can do better is to expand the base, the information
from research and development, derived from original articles and reviews. As with
all technical information, it will extend via community gate-keepers through
various groups of the general public. The knowledge of what quality medical
care really is will increase the demand, and affect the politics. The understanding
of what is not yet known will increase the call for research, and thus the
politics there as well.
Librarians do know about information and society. The ones who do not know
the elements of health politics and medical information should learn, because
anyone thought to have access to knowledge will be asked for help.
Our interest and that of publishers are fundamentally the same, though we may
have different ideas of where and how to best spend the available money.
David Goodman, Ph.D., (molecular biology), M.L.S.
previously:
Bibliographer and Research Librarian
Princeton University Library
dgoodman_at_princeton.edu
----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Banks <pbanks_at_BANKSPUB.COM>
Date: Monday, January 29, 2007 5:22 pm
> Mr. Banks has not interviewed homemakers in Houston. Instead, I
> spent 20
> years in patient education. I've looked at the statistics that show 90
> million Americans have limited health literacy. I've considered the 40
> million Hispanic patients for whom English is often a second
> language. I
> have considered the fact that 47 million Americans have no health
> insuranceand therefore no opportunity to discuss health information
> with a physician.
> I have created low-literacy health publications, Spanish language
> publications.
>
> I have also been a cancer patient and used the Internet. In the
> search for
> information, NIH's MedLine Plus, the American Cancer's Society
> page, and
> many other patient-oriented pages were extremely useful. PubMed
> Central was
> largely useless, since I do not happen to be a cultured cell or a rat.
>
> At the same time, I made virtually all the content of the journal
> DiabetesCare freely available (after a 3-month delay). I did this
> not because it
> would help very many patients--from usage statistics, it very clearly
> didn't--but not to inhibit those few who might use the information
> productively.
>
> What I didn't do is to adopt the reprehensible tactic of some OA
> advocatesor Sen. Cornyn and suggest that a treatment for breast
> cancer or diabetes
> was locked behind subscriptions barriers. OA maybe a good idea on some
> grounds, but patient education is not one of them.
>
> Please don't presume to lecture me about patient education and
> empowerment,a subject about which you appear to know nothing.
>
> Peter Banks
Received on Tue Jan 30 2007 - 01:03:27 GMT