Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Changing People's Perception One Note at at Time

A total act of randomness, my TV clicker landed on NBCs TheVoice   just as Jordan Smith was singing SIA's "Chandelier"  He blew the  judges' minds one by one as they turned their chairs to see who this amazing voice was. He changed their perceptions thoroughly.
Jordan Smith - a young man, cherubic faced, overweight, plaid shirt and cardigan, glasses.
      
Jordan Smith

There HE was.

Each judge was expecting  something else.  Not.... Jordan
Expecting a female, or someone hip enough to sing this edgy song.  "One, Two Three, Drink. One Two Three, Drink."
Expecting one of them.

Instead there was Jordan Smith.

They were blown away - everyone was smiling. You could see how much they loved what had just happened. Their minds had been changed.
Everything they thought turned out to be wrong.
They learned something all brand new. They learned how good Jordan was.
Adam Levine summed it up -  "You are the most important person that's ever been on this show."

I'm not in "the business" but I can't stop thinking about that moment. When all those judges changed so completely.
I am in the business of trying to change people's behaviors about their health - changing what they know and understand.
I know there are behavioral modelsstages of changecognitive dissonance, social marketing.   But they don't do what Jordan did.
I want to do what Jordan Smith did.  And I don't even sing

Sunday, August 2, 2015

With New Yorkers (especially in the Bronx)
on edge about Legionnaires Disease, there's no room for sloppy media coverage.  

During an outbreak, where dread is in play and the likelihood of half-right information spreading quickly,  public health officials take every opportunity to communicate what is known. 

We're hearing some residents say "I'm not going to drink the water", which likely demonstrates that people are hearing something about contaminated water and over-generalizing.  The fact is that water storage towers and connected air cooling systems are most often the culprits. A fact that the NYCDOH has been trying to get out there. 

That's why the FOX Newscoverage on Aug 2, 2015 of the Legionnaires outbreak is so, well...sloppy. 

If you'd like to read the rest of this post please visit: 
Health Literacy Lab blog 


Friday, July 31, 2015

Legionnaires and Whales - Does Disney Know?

Surprise, surprise.

This is one of the photos that made it into the online NYC Channel 4 coverage of Legionnaires' Disease.



I have no more to say about this one!

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My blog has moved to 
Healthliteracylab.com


Thursday, July 30, 2015



I might be overstating just a tad, but something ABCNews online did today does its part in misleading the public about a breaking news health issue in New York, and undermining the good work of public health officials and providers.
I'm talking about their online coverage of the Legionnaires Disease incidence in the Bronx.
The ABC headline is straightforward.  . 

An outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease has infected at least 31 in New York City and health officials are racing to figure out the cause.
But then, the literal, physical on-screen story takes leave of accurate health information about the disease by sticking 3 bold hyperlinks to  other stories  into the page whose only link to the Legionnaires story is that they are about human health. 

........

To read the rest of this post and others please go to http://healthliteracylab.com/legionnaires-disease-and-brain-eating-amoeba/

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Alert!: A more readable air quality alert


Not sure if I got the science correct here?  Any suggestions?  


Before:

AIR QUALITY LEVELS IN OUTDOOR AIR ARE PREDICTED TO BE GREATER THAN AN AIR QUALITY INDEX VALUE OF 100 FOR THE POLLUTANT OF GROUND LEVEL OZONE. THE AIR QUALITY INDEX...OR AQI...WAS CREATED AS AN EASY WAY TO CORRELATE LEVELS OF DIFFERENT POLLUTANTS TO ONE SCALE. THE HIGHERTHE AQI VALUE, THE GREATER THE HEALTH CONCERN.

After:

Outdoor air quality will not be healthy today for some people. This is because there will be more pollution from ground level ozone in the air today. 

The Air Quality Index (measure) for today will be higher than 100.
AQI ( what the numbers mean)
Good
0-50
Moderate
51-100
Unhealthy
101-150
Very unhealthy
201-300
Hazardous
301-500
(Borrowed this idea from a nice, full color chart at New York State Environmental Conservation   http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/aqi/aqi_forecast.cfm )



Reminder
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