FYI

Here's a blog that has up-to-date information about the San Diego Fires. I have been watching it consistently.
http://sosdfireblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=31

Week 8

This week in class we talked about how to frame our messages. Here are examples we talked about in class to show how important it is to frame our messages in a way so that we will get the response we are looking for. As someone in class mentioned how we talk to people or how Doctors/Employers convey messages is important because everyone can interpret the same thing very differently. Is that part of Med/grad school? How to tell patients and/or families the news on their diagnosis? Almost seems like it should be. I think we have to be careful of what we are really trying to say and if our audience will see it in the same way we do.

If you’re going to buy a calculator that cost $20 at the bookstore on campus or else $10 just off campus, would you go a little out of your way to save $10? Now, if you are buying a computer and it is $1000 on campus, but $990 just off-campus, then would you go out of your way to save $10? I learned that convenience is a really big deal to me. Family and friends… what would you do?

Another example with gains and losses:

If your boss gave you $100 bonus, would you be happy?
Now if you boss gave you $100 bonus, but your other co-workers $500, would you be happy?
What was once a gain, all of a sudden became a loss.

Family and friends… what would you do? (*Hint, hint… looking for some participation*)

And another example…
What is the best way to communicate about risk if giving a statistic?
How do we present information?

- 1% of population
- 1 out of 100
- .01
- 10 out of 1000

I hope you all find these little activities enjoyable and you have a great weekend/week!

Week 7

This week in class we talked about health literacy. This is something I hadn’t really thought much about before, but now realize how important it is for health professionals to put what they mean in plain language opposed to words and sentences that are complicated to the average person. We watched a video about this with real stories from people talking about their complications with health literacy. One example was a lady in a drug store trying to buy some throat drops for her husband who had diabetes. She was reading the labels to make sure to get something without sugar. Because the label did not read “sugar” she assumed it was okay. However, it did read fructose and glucose, yet she didn’t realize that meant sugar.

Another example that sticks out to me was the lady who had to take pills different times of day, but she couldn’t understand when exactly she was supposed to take them. She knew she needed to take 2 per day so she just took them both in the morning. She was really supposed to be taking one in the morning and one at night. These are examples of what happens to people when we don’t speak and write in plain language. It is important to consider the literacy level of the majority of people.

I also learned something interesting about myself in this lab exercise. After we watched the video we looked at a PowerPoint presentation done by the same group of people with similar information. I realized that right after I could barely remember anything that was on the slides, yet several different stories stuck out in my mind from the video. I guess different people have different learning styles, but for me stories stick better than facts. Another personal example is that if I watch a movie based on Pearl Harbor or WWII events I am much more likely to learn than if I read a history book.

Week 6

In terms of spill your guts… I agree with what other people have been saying, I think sometimes people just want to talk. I totally agree with what Dr. Engelberg said about sometimes people ask for advice, but they don’t really want it, they just want to talk. As Sarah said, sometimes they will sort things out on their own by talking through it. I used to work at a car wash and we had regular customers that came in every single week at the same time to wash their car, most of the time, not because it was dirty, but because they wanted someone to talk to. They would tell you the craziest stories just to talk. Same thing with my job now. I do a lot of phone call recruiting and people will go off on tangents telling me totally unrelated stories. While I think it is important to listen to people, sometimes there is a time to cut them off.

I also thought it was interesting when Dr. Engelberg mentioned that people expect us to know everything about Public Health because we are getting (or have) our master’s. I mean we are supposed to be “Master’s” in the subject, right? How daunting! How can in 2 years we possibly know EVERYTHING? Here’s an example just that happened to me. Just the other day I was on the phone with my mom. Since I am running a marathon this weekend my mom was talking to me about eating healthy and making sure I get my vitamins, etc. In the background I hear my step dad say to her, “Don’t be telling Lindsay how to eat, she’s the expert”. I laugh because while nutrition is important to me (I’m doing my thesis on it, geez), my whole life my mother has been my nutrition resource. I guess now I am supposed to be the “expert” because I mean, I am getting my master’s in public health. : )

In response to Crystals question (why are we, in the U.S. so into putting ourselves into categories), I think whether you like to be in a “category” or like to be “labeled” or not, in general we like to know about ourselves, where we fit in, what kind of person we are, and things of the like. I think it is always interesting to read what those evaluations have to say and see if you think that description fits you.