HEALTH LITERACY TEST: WHEN NOT TO RUB SOME DIRT ON IT

Health literacy in the cardio rehab gym is pretty basic.

No one saw an ad and signed up.

No one quit their old gym for this new one because they didn’t want to hear another, “IT’S ALL YOU BROTHER, PUSH IT.”

And the grunting and groaning that follows.

On a sixty pound bench press attempt.

The cardio guys are all tuned up on health literacy.

If not?

Wednesday’s are announcement day for nurses. Yesterday was an announcement on what is and what isn’t considered exercise.

The main point was between activities and exercise.

House cleaning until you break a free flowing sweat is activity; walking until you sweat like you’ve just cleaned the house is exercise.

Doing yard work like a land clearing pioneer is activity; lifting weights is exercise.

In other words, a dedicated time with a beginning and end is exercise. Parking on the other end of the Safeway parking lot to get extra steps is activity.

The difference in the two is that everyone in cardio rehab has already had their health literacy test. They’ve had an event, a test, and passed.

Cardio rehab, the way I see it, is rubbing some dirt on it and getting back in the game.

The Lively One

Most of the guys I’ve seen come in, do the work, and check out.

That’s the job.

Ramp up the recovery until it becomes a lifestyle change, and who couldn’t use a lifestyle change after a heart event.

A man the nurses recognized came in and started. He was chatty. I like chatty.

He turned the corner from being the usual member when he started asking trivia questions. Sports trivia.

I used to take a group to local places for trivia nights. We won, then things got testy.

Another group started using their phones to find answers; a guy in a group next to mine started making threatening remarks.

“You think you’re smart, huh?”

They both took away from the thrill of victory.

You remember the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat?

The cardio gym guy asked a nurse, “Who was the Great Pumpkin?” while she was checking my blood pressure during the treadmill walk.

It’s not a bad question. The guy was in his late forties, early fifties, and he knew the answer. What was he, an Oregon State guy?

I whispered, “Dee Andros” to the nurse.

To the man’s amazement she said, “Dee Andros.”

Thirty seconds later she ratted me out.

“That’s amazing. How did you know it was Dee Andros?” the man said.

“David told me.”

Which ruined any chance of a follow up from him, but not from me, the quiz master.

I asked, “Where did Dee Andros go to college?”

No answer.

“Oklahoma. Who was the Oregon State football coach who was also a Marine on Iwo Jima?”

No answer.

“Dee Andros.”

My line of questioning is one reason for not going to public trivia nights. People feel deceived, then get angry, but I felt pretty safe in cardio rehab.

BoomerPdx Health Literacy Test

If you have profuse bleeding do you rub some dirt on it, or apply direct pressure with a clean compress while getting someone to call 911?

As a young boy I got my big toe stuck under the back platform of a tricycle while I pulled the handlebars up for a wheelie.

The sharp edge of the stamped steel dug in.

Should my mom have applied direct pressure with a clean compress, rubbed some dirt on it, or used a box of bandaids to to stop the profuse toe bleed.

We were out of bandaids after that day. The toe scar on my kid foot stretched up as it grew into size thirteen.

As a sophomore football player in high school the week before my first varsity start I hurt my shoulder.

Should I rub some dirt on it, have the coach tape it up with seven rolls of tape before the game, then follow up treatment of running up sand dunes and mudflats, or go to the doctor?

I saw a doctor after the game, after the tape came off, and it ended my season.

Let’s do you now.

If there is a pandemic of a highly contagious disease do you rub some dirt on it, or get a vaccine?

After science has discovered that wearing a mask slows transmission of covid, do you rub dirt in the faces of those who wear masks, or wear a mask?

36% Is The Number

The Center For Health Care Strategies says:

Nearly 36 percent of adults in the U.S. have low health literacy, with disproportionate rates found among lower-income Americans eligible for Medicaid.

Pfizer says:

Low health literacy is very common.

• Approximately 36% of adult Americans have only basic or below basic health literacy skills.
   
  • They may be able to read and understand a simple appointment slip or patient education brochure.
  • They would experience difficulty with more complex information such as prescription drug labels or informed consent documents.
• Only 12% of Americans are considered proficient in their health literacy skills.
   
  • They have a sufficient level of health literacy to navigate our complex health system, engage in complex medical discussions, and fully participate in managing their health.

BoomerPdx says:

Asking health questions won’t shrink any man’s testicals.

Asking for clarification won’t make you vulnerable to your knucklehead peer group.

However, ignoring sound medical advice from career scientists invested in proper research conducted in peer reviewed laboratories may have consequences.

You might not get sick, or you could get deathly ill. You might pass covid to more vulnerable family members, or not.

Typhoid Mary was not a welcome guest at family reunions. Small Pox laden blankets were an evil idea.

People avoiding vaccines and wearing masks will feel the pain if the advice they follow comes from a flaccid faced, bloated gut, bullshitter spewing whatever crackpot notion comes across his screen.

Why Follow My Advice On Health Literacy?

I’m a junior lifesaving graduate in early swim lessons.

First aide merit badge in Boy Scouts.

CPR training at the fire house field trip.

Sports injury treatment from my dad.

Army Medic School grad.

EMT in the Defense Personnel Support Center in South Philadelphia.

Two home births.

Neck cancer treatment survivor.

Skin cancer treatment survivor.

Broken heart syndrome survivor.

Those are my medical advice bonafides.

What are yours?