I have a very good doctor. He takes the time to explain things and break it
down to me. Sometimes, though, I do get stuff that can be hard—like when
I first came home from the hospital and I had all these forms and things I had
to read. Some words I come across I just can’t quite understand (National
Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, 2003).1
Nearly half of all American adults—90 million people—have
difficulty understanding and acting upon health information. The
examples below were selected from the many pieces of complex
consumer health information used in America.
• From a research consent form: “A comparison of the effectiveness
of educational media in combination with a counseling
method on smoking habits is being examined.” (Doak et al., 1996)