More... Language Acting Badly
Today, I'm taking top tier headline news about Ebola to see how easy or difficult it is for the public to find understandable information from trusted sources.
Here’s a quick health literacy load analysis of the first 2 paragraphs of what the public encounters at the CDC website's primary landing page about Ebola.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/ accessed 7-31-14 7:00am
Ebola
Hemorrhagic Fever
Ebola
hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is one of numerous Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. It is
a severe, often fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates (such as monkeys,
gorillas, and chimpanzees).
Ebola HF is caused by infection
with a virus of the family Filoviridae,
genus Ebolavirus. When infection occurs, symptoms usually
begin abruptly. The first Ebolavirus species was discovered in 1976 in
what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo near the Ebola River. Since
then, outbreaks have appeared sporadically.
Health Literacy Load Analysis (here just focusing on 2 categories - fundamental literacy & science literacy).
Fundamental
Literacy: Primary language acting badly in this text: Vocabulary
Numerous (often)
Abruptly (all of a sudden)
Sporadically (off and on; from
time to time)
Viral hemorrhagic fever, (pronunciation
cues would have been useful) – virus is a more universally comprehended word
Filoviradae, genus Ebolavirus -
Other technical terms that could appear later or in less significant position
of first paragraphs –
Sentence structure – harder to read passive verbs: “is caused by” (Infection from 2 different kinds of viruses
causes Ebola)
Science
Literacy: Basic science concepts the text assumes
readers understand
Relationship between viruses inprimates and other hosts, like humans.
Why is it important that primates get the
disease? Should I not visit zoos?
What is a family of viruses?
Genus?
Viruses have “species”
Viruses are discovered – what’s
the significance that the virus was discovered in 1979? In Congo? Can you get the virus from the
river?
What a person with average to low literacy or low health literacy
might take away about Ebola:
Ebola is a fever. It comes from
animals like monkeys. You have to have the virus in your family to get sick.
Infection begins. They discovered the Congo near a river in 1976.
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