Discharge Instructions Hard to Understand, and Other Links
Patient illiteracy: 90 million Americans can’t understand discharge instructions if they are written above a fifth-grade level.
People don’t think they’re fat unless their doctor tells them they’re fat. That includes almost 37% of the overweight and 19% of the obese whose physicians didn’t talk to them about weight.
Canadian baby update: The hospital under fire for ordering parents to remove their young son from life support because he is a vegetative state has backed down and agreed to let the boy die at home.
Canadian government let’s parents take control of their own baby? Wow. Next thing you know they will start believing in individual rights.
It’s very hard for me to believe that people who are fat do not know they are fat.
Ditto Arnold Kling.
I believe Arnold Kling is correct. I’ve heard Michael Cannon make a similar argument.
I cannot understand how more than one-third of overweight people (and one-in-five obese people) do not consider themselves too fat. I am very cognoscente when the waistband in my jeans or dress slacks becomes snug requiring a larger size at future purchases.
Ditto Vicki.
I think the fact that grown adults can’t read above a fifth grade level is pretty indicative of the state of our education system.
School choice, anyone?
I’m with you Jessica.
The irony of pumping more funds into literacy is that it begs the question: where will the money come from? Seniors. It comes from seniors, since they make up such a large part of the budget. This is the beginning of generational struggles whereby we chose between educating future generations and taking care of existing ones.
It all depends on the school and the location of the school. I will refuse to let my 2 young grandsons go to an inner city school- all you hear on the news is about gun fights, etc. If money was put into those schools, what would change? Money for education might as well go to the schools and students who will do something with it- have advanced classes, offer college courses for seniors. If a school is down and out, I’m not saying it can’t change but it would take more than money – the few & far between PERFECT principal and a whole school of new teachers, or teachers that have devoted their life to changing these kids. There are many good teachers, but they would have to be more than good!
Virginia and Amanda: agree that we should not pore more money down a rat hole. But education spending might be a better use of all that money Obama is going to use to enroll people in Medicaid.