Presented by Helen Osborne, MEd, OTR/L, on September 6, 2012 at the third annual Center for Health Literacy Conference: Plain Talk in Complex Times.

1. Making Number Make Sense:
Exploring Strategies to Convey
Quantity, Time, and Risk
Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L
Health Literacy Consulting
www.healthliteracy.com

2. “Mrs. Jones is on a modified diet and must restrict
her intake of both sweet and salted foods. She
takes six different medications, each with its own
dosing schedule. She needs to monitor and record
how she feels each day and notify her providers
when there are significant changes in her health.
She also needs to make and keep numerous
outpatient appointments and prepare for an
ongoing battery of medical tests.”
What numeracy tasks do we expect that Mrs. Jones can,
and will correctly, do?

3. “Mrs. Jones is on a modified diet and must restrict
her intake of both sweet and salted foods. She
takes six different medications, each with its own
dosing schedule. She needs to monitor and record
how she feels each day and notify her providers
when there are significant changes in her health.
She also needs to make and keep numerous
outpatient appointments and prepare for an
ongoing battery of medical tests.”

4. Quantity & Calculations

6. Visual Comparisons
http://www.sugarstacks.com/

7. Portions: About the Size of…
1 oz. meat Matchbox
3 oz. meat Deck of cards or soap bar
8 oz. meat Thin paperback book
1 oz. cheese 4 dice
Medium potato Computer mouse
2 Tbs. peanut butter Ping pong ball
½ cup pasta Tennis ball
Average bagel Hockey puck
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_3_2x_Portion_Control.asp

9. Wong Baker Faces Pain Scale
http://www.painknowledge.org/physiciantools/opioid_toolkit/components/Wong-Baker_Scale.pdf

10. DoloTest: Providing a clear picture of pain
www.dolotest.com

11. 100 + 100.2 + 102 =

12. 100
100.2
+102

13. <>
≠
±
÷
∗

14. Time

15. Analog or Digital?

16. AHRQ’s Pill Card Template
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/pillcard/pillcard.htm#Template

18. Passage of time

19. Risk & Comparative Data

20. “Pie” chart

21. “Doughnut” chart

22. www.mhqp.org

23. To learn more:
• helen@healthliteracy.com
• www.healthliteracy.com
• www.healthliteracyoutloud.com