Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges,... more Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges, which have not been well addressed in the literacy and numeracy literature to date. The primary language spoken prior to learning English may be an important factor in health numeracy for English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) immigrants. This is because languages differ in the number of numeric concepts such as whole numbers, probabilities, proportions or rates embedded in their structure. Some languages have more of these numeric concepts than others. Speakers of a language with fewer numeric concepts may be constrained in their numeracy skills and may have difficulties comprehending numeric information that contains numeric concepts that are absent in their primary language. Some languages, such as Kikuyu—a language spoken by the Agikuyu people of Kenya—lack concepts and words for some numerical forms, such as fractions and ratios. In contrast, Mandarin has many numeric concepts. In this chapter we consider how language may affect numeracy of older non-native speakers of English whose primary languages differ in the representations of numeric concepts.
Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The o... more Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The objective of this study was to examine the role of mathematics self-efficacy in numeracy and health numeracy among immigrants (60 Mandarin-speaking and 60 Kikuyu-speaking immigrants to Canada) for whom English was a second language (ESL). Two French Kit numeracy tasks (the addition, and the addition and subtraction correction tasks) constituted objective measures of numeracy, and the numeracy component of a health literacy instrument (The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults [S-TOFHLA]) constituted the health numeracy measure. We measured math self-efficacy using the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS). All measures were presented in English. Kikuyu speakers had lower math self-efficacy ( p < .05) compared with Mandarin speakers ( p < .05). Mandarin speakers outperformed Kikuyu speakers in numeracy ( p < .001) and health numeracy ( p < .023) skills. In multiple regression analyses, 32% to 57 % of the variance in objective numeracy was explained by language, residency in Canada, and self-efficacy, adjusting for the other predictor variables; self-efficacy and format of numeric health information (numbers only vs. numbers with detailed text) consistently predicted health numeracy. Mathematics self-efficacy may be an important factor in numeracy, but not as important in health numeracy for Kikuyu- and Mandarin-speaking immigrants for whom English is a second language. Factors contributing to low numeracy may differ from those explaining low health numeracy in ESL immigrants.
Health literacy is the ability of individuals to understand health information and to make inform... more Health literacy is the ability of individuals to understand health information and to make informed health decisions. As part of a larger project, we completed a scoping review to consider the question “To what extent does teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) currently include a focus on health literacy?” In this paper, we specifically address the question, “How might OER support teacher education in health literacy to support individual and community resilience in sub-Saharan Africa?” We examine the extent literature on health literacy, its relevance to teacher education and OER, and how OER can be used to support health literacy education in SSA. A discussion on the ways in which health literacy education in SSA can be fostered through governments and through other partnership is explored.
Cognitive Informatics in Health and Biomedicine, 2017
Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges,... more Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges, which have not been well addressed in the literacy and numeracy literature to date. The primary language spoken prior to learning English may be an important factor in health numeracy for English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) immigrants. This is because languages differ in the number of numeric concepts such as whole numbers, probabilities, proportions or rates embedded in their structure. Some languages have more of these numeric concepts than others. Speakers of a language with fewer numeric concepts may be constrained in their numeracy skills and may have difficulties comprehending numeric information that contains numeric concepts that are absent in their primary language. Some languages, such as Kikuyu—a language spoken by the Agikuyu people of Kenya—lack concepts and words for some numerical forms, such as fractions and ratios. In contrast, Mandarin has many numeric concepts. In this chapter we consider how language may affect numeracy of older non-native speakers of English whose primary languages differ in the representations of numeric concepts.
ABSTRACT Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all langua... more ABSTRACT Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We explored the relation between immigrants’ primary language and comprehension of context-free and health numeric information presented in English. The study compared speakers of Kikuyu (Kenya) and Mandarin (China), two languages that differ in the quantity of numeric concepts in their structures. Observation-oriented analysis was performed to determine how accurately the observed data conform to language group. We show how such analysis compares to standard statistical analysis. We argue that primary language contributes to some of the differences in numeracy and health numeracy.
Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The o... more Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The objective of this study was to examine the role of mathematics self-efficacy in numeracy and health numeracy among immigrants (60 Mandarin-speaking and 60 Kikuyu-speaking immigrants to Canada) for whom English was a second language (ESL). Two French Kit numeracy tasks (the addition, and the addition and subtraction correction tasks) constituted objective measures of numeracy, and the numeracy component of a health literacy instrument (The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults [S-TOFHLA]) constituted the health numeracy measure. We measured math self-efficacy using the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS). All measures were presented in English. Kikuyu speakers had lower math self-efficacy ( p < .05) compared with Mandarin speakers ( p < .05). Mandarin speakers outperformed Kikuyu speakers in numeracy ( p < .001) and health n...
The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health Days (campa... more The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health Days (campaigns) to routine delivery via the community health services. The objective of this study was to compare the cost and effectiveness of these 2 delivery methods. No previous studies have done this. A mixed method approach was used. Quantitative data on costs were collected from interviews with key staff and coverage data from health facility records. Qualitative data on the 2 modalities were collected from key informants and community members from purposefully sampled communities using the 2 modalities. Communities appreciated the provision of vitamin A supplements to their under 5-year-old children. The small drop in coverage that occurred as a result of the change in modality can be attributed to normal changes that occur with any system change. Advantages of campaigns included greater ease of mobilization and better coverage of older children from more remote communities. Advantages of ...
Presentations A005 Measuring ‘Illness Perceptions and Behavior’ in People with Knee Pain/Osteoart... more Presentations A005 Measuring ‘Illness Perceptions and Behavior’ in People with Knee Pain/Osteoarthritis Clayon B. Hamilton, PhD* Bert M. Chesworth, BA, BScPT, MClScPT, PhD† * Arthritis Research Canada; Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Richmond, BC; † School of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON Correspondence: chamilton@arthritisresearch.ca Purpose/Objectives and Rationale: We sought to identify validated measures that capture illness perception and behavior and have been used to assess people who have knee pain/osteoarthritis. Relevance: The assessment of ‘illness perception and behavior’ can help to recognize illness and inform the implementation of strategies for managing pain and disability. Materials and Methods: We performed a scoping review. Nine electronic databases were searched for publications from inception thro...
Introduction: Health numeracy is a necessary skill for accessing health services. Immigrants have... more Introduction: Health numeracy is a necessary skill for accessing health services. Immigrants have lower levels of health numeracy compared to host populations which constrains their access to health information necessary to make quality health decisions. Factors contributing to immigrants’ low health numeracy skills include language and mathematics self-efficacy. Language is associated with how people acquire and process numeric information. Some languages have more numeric concepts than others. Speakers of languages that lack one or more numeric concepts may be constrained in the comprehension of health information that contains such concepts. Moreover, they may lack the self-efficacy to engage in numeric tasks containing such concepts. Therefore, the overall objectives of this study were: 1) to investigate the effect of primary language and 2) mathematics selfefficacy on its speakers’ comprehension of numeric health information presented in a different language; and also 3) to inv...
Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and... more Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and the consequences of disease treatment. Both health literacy and skill in using the Internet to obtain health information are lower among older compared with younger adults. Presentation format of health information has been shown to influence comprehension. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of information formatting (text and graphic) on older adults' comprehension of Internet-based numeric cancer risk information. This cross-sectional study involved a convenience sample of adults, aged 50 years and older from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds. Cancer risk information, obtained from a Canadian Cancer Society web page, was presented as text, graphics or as a combination of text and graphics formats. Comprehension of the information was assessed by six questions focused on basic numeracy skill and ability to perform simple calculations and operations. A three-item general context numeracy and an eight-item health context numeracy instrument were used to describe health numeracy skills of participants. The six-item Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test was used to assess prose and numeric health literacy. There was no statistically significant effect of presentation format on participants' comprehension of the cancer information. Participants' comprehension of basic health numeracy information was positively correlated with education (p 0.05) and income (p 0.01) whereas comprehension of information that assessed calculation and operations numeracy skill was positively correlated only with income (p 0.05). Health literacy skill and income explained a significant proportion of the variance in overall comprehension of Internet-based cancer risk information (R 2 ¼ 0.414, p 0.01) in this sample of older adults. Format of numeric risk information was not a significant factor in the comprehension of cancer risk information in this group of ethnically diverse, older adults. However, comprehension of the information was related to health literacy skill and income.
Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We e... more Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We explored the relation between immigrants’ primary language and comprehension of context-free and health numeric information presented in English. The study compared speakers of Kikuyu (Kenya) and Mandarin (China), two languages that differ in the quantity of numeric concepts in their structures. Observation-oriented analysis was performed to determine how accurately the observed data conform to language group. We show how such analysis compares to standard statistical analysis. We argue that primary language contributes to some of the differences in
numeracy and health numeracy.
Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges,... more Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges, which have not been well addressed in the literacy and numeracy literature to date. The primary language spoken prior to learning English may be an important factor in health numeracy for English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) immigrants. This is because languages differ in the number of numeric concepts such as whole numbers, probabilities, proportions or rates embedded in their structure. Some languages have more of these numeric concepts than others. Speakers of a language with fewer numeric concepts may be constrained in their numeracy skills and may have difficulties comprehending numeric information that contains numeric concepts that are absent in their primary language. Some languages , such as Kikuyu—a language spoken by the Agikuyu people of Kenya— lack concepts and words for some numerical forms, such as fractions and ratios. In contrast, Mandarin has many numeric concepts. In this chapter we consider how language may affect numeracy of older non-native speakers of English whose primary languages differ in the representations of numeric concepts.
Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The o... more Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The objective of this study was to examine the role of mathematics self-efficacy in numeracy and health numeracy among immigrants (60 Mandarin-speaking and 60 Kikuyu-speaking immigrants to Canada) for whom English was a second language (ESL). Two French Kit numeracy tasks (the addition, and the addition and subtraction correction tasks) constituted objective measures of numeracy, and the numeracy component of a health literacy instrument (The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults [S-TOFHLA]) constituted the health numeracy measure. We measured math self-efficacy using the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS). All measures were presented in English. Kikuyu speakers had lower math self-efficacy (p < .05) compared with Mandarin speakers (p < .05). Mandarin speakers outperformed Kikuyu speakers in numeracy (p < .001) and health numeracy (p < .023) skills. In multiple regression analyses, 32% to 57 % of the variance in objective numeracy was explained by language, residency in Canada, and self-efficacy, adjusting for the other predictor variables; self-efficacy and format of numeric health information (numbers only vs. numbers with detailed text) consistently predicted health numeracy. Mathematics self-efficacy may be an important factor in numeracy, but not as important in health numeracy for Kikuyu-and Mandarin-speaking immigrants for whom English is a second language. Factors contributing to low numeracy may differ from those explaining low health numeracy in ESL immigrants.
Background: The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health... more Background: The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health Days (campaigns) to routine delivery via the community health services. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the cost and effectiveness of these 2 delivery methods. No previous studies have done this. Methods: A mixed method approach was used. Quantitative data on costs were collected from interviews with key staff and coverage data from health facility records. Qualitative data on the 2 modalities were collected from key informants and community members from purposefully sampled communities using the 2 modalities. Results: Communities appreciated the provision of vitamin A supplements to their under 5-year-old children. The small drop in coverage that occurred as a result of the change in modality can be attributed to normal changes that occur with any system change. Advantages of campaigns included greater ease of mobilization and better coverage of older children from more remote communities. Advantages of routine delivery included not omitting children who happened to miss the 1 day per round that supplementation occurred and not disrupting the availability of other health services for the 5 to 6 days each campaign requires. The cost of routine delivery is not easy to measure nor is the cost of disruption to normal services entailed by campaigns. Conclusion: Cost-effectiveness likely depends more on effectiveness than on cost. Overall, the routine approach can achieve good coverage and is sustainable in the long run, as long as the transition is well planned and implemented.
Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and... more Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and the consequences of disease treatment. Both health literacy and skill in using the Internet to obtain health information are lower among older compared with younger adults. Presentation format of health information has been shown to influence comprehension. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of information formatting (text and graphic) on older adults&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; comprehension of Internet-based numeric cancer risk information. This cross-sectional study involved a convenience sample of adults, aged 50 years and older from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds. Cancer risk information, obtained from a Canadian Cancer Society web page, was presented as text, graphics or as a combination of text and graphics formats. Comprehension of the information was assessed by six questions focused on basic numeracy skill and ability to perform simple calculations and operations. A three-item general context numeracy and an eight-item health context numeracy instrument were used to describe health numeracy skills of participants. The six-item Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test was used to assess prose and numeric health literacy. There was no statistically significant effect of presentation format on participants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; comprehension of the cancer information. Participants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; comprehension of basic health numeracy information was positively correlated with education (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.05) and income (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.01) whereas comprehension of information that assessed calculation and operations numeracy skill was positively correlated only with income (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.05). Health literacy skill and income explained a significant proportion of the variance in overall comprehension of Internet-based cancer risk information (R(2) = 0.414, p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.01) in this sample of older adults. Format of numeric risk information was not a significant factor in the comprehension of cancer risk information in this group of ethnically diverse, older adults. However, comprehension of the information was related to health literacy skill and income.
Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges,... more Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges, which have not been well addressed in the literacy and numeracy literature to date. The primary language spoken prior to learning English may be an important factor in health numeracy for English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) immigrants. This is because languages differ in the number of numeric concepts such as whole numbers, probabilities, proportions or rates embedded in their structure. Some languages have more of these numeric concepts than others. Speakers of a language with fewer numeric concepts may be constrained in their numeracy skills and may have difficulties comprehending numeric information that contains numeric concepts that are absent in their primary language. Some languages, such as Kikuyu—a language spoken by the Agikuyu people of Kenya—lack concepts and words for some numerical forms, such as fractions and ratios. In contrast, Mandarin has many numeric concepts. In this chapter we consider how language may affect numeracy of older non-native speakers of English whose primary languages differ in the representations of numeric concepts.
Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The o... more Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The objective of this study was to examine the role of mathematics self-efficacy in numeracy and health numeracy among immigrants (60 Mandarin-speaking and 60 Kikuyu-speaking immigrants to Canada) for whom English was a second language (ESL). Two French Kit numeracy tasks (the addition, and the addition and subtraction correction tasks) constituted objective measures of numeracy, and the numeracy component of a health literacy instrument (The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults [S-TOFHLA]) constituted the health numeracy measure. We measured math self-efficacy using the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS). All measures were presented in English. Kikuyu speakers had lower math self-efficacy ( p &amp;lt; .05) compared with Mandarin speakers ( p &amp;lt; .05). Mandarin speakers outperformed Kikuyu speakers in numeracy ( p &amp;lt; .001) and health numeracy ( p &amp;lt; .023) skills. In multiple regression analyses, 32% to 57 % of the variance in objective numeracy was explained by language, residency in Canada, and self-efficacy, adjusting for the other predictor variables; self-efficacy and format of numeric health information (numbers only vs. numbers with detailed text) consistently predicted health numeracy. Mathematics self-efficacy may be an important factor in numeracy, but not as important in health numeracy for Kikuyu- and Mandarin-speaking immigrants for whom English is a second language. Factors contributing to low numeracy may differ from those explaining low health numeracy in ESL immigrants.
Health literacy is the ability of individuals to understand health information and to make inform... more Health literacy is the ability of individuals to understand health information and to make informed health decisions. As part of a larger project, we completed a scoping review to consider the question “To what extent does teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) currently include a focus on health literacy?” In this paper, we specifically address the question, “How might OER support teacher education in health literacy to support individual and community resilience in sub-Saharan Africa?” We examine the extent literature on health literacy, its relevance to teacher education and OER, and how OER can be used to support health literacy education in SSA. A discussion on the ways in which health literacy education in SSA can be fostered through governments and through other partnership is explored.
Cognitive Informatics in Health and Biomedicine, 2017
Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges,... more Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges, which have not been well addressed in the literacy and numeracy literature to date. The primary language spoken prior to learning English may be an important factor in health numeracy for English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) immigrants. This is because languages differ in the number of numeric concepts such as whole numbers, probabilities, proportions or rates embedded in their structure. Some languages have more of these numeric concepts than others. Speakers of a language with fewer numeric concepts may be constrained in their numeracy skills and may have difficulties comprehending numeric information that contains numeric concepts that are absent in their primary language. Some languages, such as Kikuyu—a language spoken by the Agikuyu people of Kenya—lack concepts and words for some numerical forms, such as fractions and ratios. In contrast, Mandarin has many numeric concepts. In this chapter we consider how language may affect numeracy of older non-native speakers of English whose primary languages differ in the representations of numeric concepts.
ABSTRACT Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all langua... more ABSTRACT Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We explored the relation between immigrants’ primary language and comprehension of context-free and health numeric information presented in English. The study compared speakers of Kikuyu (Kenya) and Mandarin (China), two languages that differ in the quantity of numeric concepts in their structures. Observation-oriented analysis was performed to determine how accurately the observed data conform to language group. We show how such analysis compares to standard statistical analysis. We argue that primary language contributes to some of the differences in numeracy and health numeracy.
Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The o... more Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The objective of this study was to examine the role of mathematics self-efficacy in numeracy and health numeracy among immigrants (60 Mandarin-speaking and 60 Kikuyu-speaking immigrants to Canada) for whom English was a second language (ESL). Two French Kit numeracy tasks (the addition, and the addition and subtraction correction tasks) constituted objective measures of numeracy, and the numeracy component of a health literacy instrument (The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults [S-TOFHLA]) constituted the health numeracy measure. We measured math self-efficacy using the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS). All measures were presented in English. Kikuyu speakers had lower math self-efficacy ( p < .05) compared with Mandarin speakers ( p < .05). Mandarin speakers outperformed Kikuyu speakers in numeracy ( p < .001) and health n...
The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health Days (campa... more The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health Days (campaigns) to routine delivery via the community health services. The objective of this study was to compare the cost and effectiveness of these 2 delivery methods. No previous studies have done this. A mixed method approach was used. Quantitative data on costs were collected from interviews with key staff and coverage data from health facility records. Qualitative data on the 2 modalities were collected from key informants and community members from purposefully sampled communities using the 2 modalities. Communities appreciated the provision of vitamin A supplements to their under 5-year-old children. The small drop in coverage that occurred as a result of the change in modality can be attributed to normal changes that occur with any system change. Advantages of campaigns included greater ease of mobilization and better coverage of older children from more remote communities. Advantages of ...
Presentations A005 Measuring ‘Illness Perceptions and Behavior’ in People with Knee Pain/Osteoart... more Presentations A005 Measuring ‘Illness Perceptions and Behavior’ in People with Knee Pain/Osteoarthritis Clayon B. Hamilton, PhD* Bert M. Chesworth, BA, BScPT, MClScPT, PhD† * Arthritis Research Canada; Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Richmond, BC; † School of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON Correspondence: chamilton@arthritisresearch.ca Purpose/Objectives and Rationale: We sought to identify validated measures that capture illness perception and behavior and have been used to assess people who have knee pain/osteoarthritis. Relevance: The assessment of ‘illness perception and behavior’ can help to recognize illness and inform the implementation of strategies for managing pain and disability. Materials and Methods: We performed a scoping review. Nine electronic databases were searched for publications from inception thro...
Introduction: Health numeracy is a necessary skill for accessing health services. Immigrants have... more Introduction: Health numeracy is a necessary skill for accessing health services. Immigrants have lower levels of health numeracy compared to host populations which constrains their access to health information necessary to make quality health decisions. Factors contributing to immigrants’ low health numeracy skills include language and mathematics self-efficacy. Language is associated with how people acquire and process numeric information. Some languages have more numeric concepts than others. Speakers of languages that lack one or more numeric concepts may be constrained in the comprehension of health information that contains such concepts. Moreover, they may lack the self-efficacy to engage in numeric tasks containing such concepts. Therefore, the overall objectives of this study were: 1) to investigate the effect of primary language and 2) mathematics selfefficacy on its speakers’ comprehension of numeric health information presented in a different language; and also 3) to inv...
Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and... more Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and the consequences of disease treatment. Both health literacy and skill in using the Internet to obtain health information are lower among older compared with younger adults. Presentation format of health information has been shown to influence comprehension. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of information formatting (text and graphic) on older adults' comprehension of Internet-based numeric cancer risk information. This cross-sectional study involved a convenience sample of adults, aged 50 years and older from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds. Cancer risk information, obtained from a Canadian Cancer Society web page, was presented as text, graphics or as a combination of text and graphics formats. Comprehension of the information was assessed by six questions focused on basic numeracy skill and ability to perform simple calculations and operations. A three-item general context numeracy and an eight-item health context numeracy instrument were used to describe health numeracy skills of participants. The six-item Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test was used to assess prose and numeric health literacy. There was no statistically significant effect of presentation format on participants' comprehension of the cancer information. Participants' comprehension of basic health numeracy information was positively correlated with education (p 0.05) and income (p 0.01) whereas comprehension of information that assessed calculation and operations numeracy skill was positively correlated only with income (p 0.05). Health literacy skill and income explained a significant proportion of the variance in overall comprehension of Internet-based cancer risk information (R 2 ¼ 0.414, p 0.01) in this sample of older adults. Format of numeric risk information was not a significant factor in the comprehension of cancer risk information in this group of ethnically diverse, older adults. However, comprehension of the information was related to health literacy skill and income.
Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We e... more Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We explored the relation between immigrants’ primary language and comprehension of context-free and health numeric information presented in English. The study compared speakers of Kikuyu (Kenya) and Mandarin (China), two languages that differ in the quantity of numeric concepts in their structures. Observation-oriented analysis was performed to determine how accurately the observed data conform to language group. We show how such analysis compares to standard statistical analysis. We argue that primary language contributes to some of the differences in
numeracy and health numeracy.
Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges,... more Conveying numerical information across language and cultural barriers presents unique challenges, which have not been well addressed in the literacy and numeracy literature to date. The primary language spoken prior to learning English may be an important factor in health numeracy for English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) immigrants. This is because languages differ in the number of numeric concepts such as whole numbers, probabilities, proportions or rates embedded in their structure. Some languages have more of these numeric concepts than others. Speakers of a language with fewer numeric concepts may be constrained in their numeracy skills and may have difficulties comprehending numeric information that contains numeric concepts that are absent in their primary language. Some languages , such as Kikuyu—a language spoken by the Agikuyu people of Kenya— lack concepts and words for some numerical forms, such as fractions and ratios. In contrast, Mandarin has many numeric concepts. In this chapter we consider how language may affect numeracy of older non-native speakers of English whose primary languages differ in the representations of numeric concepts.
Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The o... more Mathematics self-efficacy plays an important role in the performance of quantitative tasks. The objective of this study was to examine the role of mathematics self-efficacy in numeracy and health numeracy among immigrants (60 Mandarin-speaking and 60 Kikuyu-speaking immigrants to Canada) for whom English was a second language (ESL). Two French Kit numeracy tasks (the addition, and the addition and subtraction correction tasks) constituted objective measures of numeracy, and the numeracy component of a health literacy instrument (The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults [S-TOFHLA]) constituted the health numeracy measure. We measured math self-efficacy using the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS). All measures were presented in English. Kikuyu speakers had lower math self-efficacy (p < .05) compared with Mandarin speakers (p < .05). Mandarin speakers outperformed Kikuyu speakers in numeracy (p < .001) and health numeracy (p < .023) skills. In multiple regression analyses, 32% to 57 % of the variance in objective numeracy was explained by language, residency in Canada, and self-efficacy, adjusting for the other predictor variables; self-efficacy and format of numeric health information (numbers only vs. numbers with detailed text) consistently predicted health numeracy. Mathematics self-efficacy may be an important factor in numeracy, but not as important in health numeracy for Kikuyu-and Mandarin-speaking immigrants for whom English is a second language. Factors contributing to low numeracy may differ from those explaining low health numeracy in ESL immigrants.
Background: The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health... more Background: The delivery of vitamin A supplements in Ethiopia has been shifting from Child Health Days (campaigns) to routine delivery via the community health services. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the cost and effectiveness of these 2 delivery methods. No previous studies have done this. Methods: A mixed method approach was used. Quantitative data on costs were collected from interviews with key staff and coverage data from health facility records. Qualitative data on the 2 modalities were collected from key informants and community members from purposefully sampled communities using the 2 modalities. Results: Communities appreciated the provision of vitamin A supplements to their under 5-year-old children. The small drop in coverage that occurred as a result of the change in modality can be attributed to normal changes that occur with any system change. Advantages of campaigns included greater ease of mobilization and better coverage of older children from more remote communities. Advantages of routine delivery included not omitting children who happened to miss the 1 day per round that supplementation occurred and not disrupting the availability of other health services for the 5 to 6 days each campaign requires. The cost of routine delivery is not easy to measure nor is the cost of disruption to normal services entailed by campaigns. Conclusion: Cost-effectiveness likely depends more on effectiveness than on cost. Overall, the routine approach can achieve good coverage and is sustainable in the long run, as long as the transition is well planned and implemented.
Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and... more Competency in health numeracy is essential in understanding risk about disease susceptibility and the consequences of disease treatment. Both health literacy and skill in using the Internet to obtain health information are lower among older compared with younger adults. Presentation format of health information has been shown to influence comprehension. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of information formatting (text and graphic) on older adults&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; comprehension of Internet-based numeric cancer risk information. This cross-sectional study involved a convenience sample of adults, aged 50 years and older from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds. Cancer risk information, obtained from a Canadian Cancer Society web page, was presented as text, graphics or as a combination of text and graphics formats. Comprehension of the information was assessed by six questions focused on basic numeracy skill and ability to perform simple calculations and operations. A three-item general context numeracy and an eight-item health context numeracy instrument were used to describe health numeracy skills of participants. The six-item Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test was used to assess prose and numeric health literacy. There was no statistically significant effect of presentation format on participants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; comprehension of the cancer information. Participants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; comprehension of basic health numeracy information was positively correlated with education (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.05) and income (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.01) whereas comprehension of information that assessed calculation and operations numeracy skill was positively correlated only with income (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.05). Health literacy skill and income explained a significant proportion of the variance in overall comprehension of Internet-based cancer risk information (R(2) = 0.414, p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; or = 0.01) in this sample of older adults. Format of numeric risk information was not a significant factor in the comprehension of cancer risk information in this group of ethnically diverse, older adults. However, comprehension of the information was related to health literacy skill and income.
Uploads
Papers by Sospeter Gatobu
numeracy and health numeracy.
numeracy and health numeracy.