Numeracy for Health

1 Numeracy for Health Introduction There are many Numeracy skills that people need to look after their Health . Cancer Research UK recently found that 46% of their sample got the answer wrong when asked whether a risk of 1 in 100, 1 in 10, or 1 in 1000 resulted in more chance of their getting a disease. As well as understanding risks, patients need Numeracy skills to manage their diets, make and keep medical appointments, measure medicine doses, or simply work out a routine for taking tablets throughout a day. Numeracy is also important for navigating the healthcare system and choosing hospital services on the basis of nurse-patient ratios, readmission rates, and friends & family ratings. And it is not just patients skills which are relevant here. Numeracy is crucial for healthcare workers who are expected to practise complex calculations in highly critical and stressful situations.

Decisions on health are particularly difficult given the potential outcomes of patients’ choices. Whilst we are beginning to understand the maths anxiety some people can experience when confronted with numbers, this does not even begin to depict the emotional barriers patients may have with confronting evidence concerning their health

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