Gaissmaier,W.

Already in the 1930s, HG Wells12 predicted that for an educated citizenship in a modern democracy, statistical thinking would be as indispensable as reading and writing. At the beginning of the 21st century, nearly everyone in industrial societies has been taught reading and writing, but not statistical thinking. Many researchers present the problem of statistical illiteracy as if it were largely a consequence of cognitive limitations13. In contrast to this internal view, the majority of causes for statistical illiteracy discussed here can be found in the external environment, such as in nontransparent reporting of the health related information. A major remedy therefore would be to provide transparent health information based on the best available clinical evidence to the public, and Sascha Köpke and Christoph Heesen have presented excellent examples of how this can be achieved in MS in a recent issue of Way Ahead14. Additionally, the public needs to be taught how to deal with risk and uncertainty so that they are able to ask the right questions and to know when they are being misled. As Gerd Gigerenzer and Muir Gray put it in a timely manifesto - Better doctors, better patients, better decisions: Envisioning health care 2020

Gaissmaier, W. (2011). Risk communication: Why we need understandable information. Way Ahead, 15, 10-12. (Full text)

Publication year	2011
Document type:	Article
Publication status:	Published
External URL:	http://www.mstrust.org.uk/professionals/information/wayahead/articles/15032011_05.jsp View
Categories:	HealthEnvironment StructureRisk Communication
Keywords: