Events
So You Want To Give People Their Health Numbers
Friday, April 24
This quarter we're pleased to welcome guest speaker Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher Ph.D. who will present "So You Want To Give People Their Health Numbers", a session focused on health numeracy.
Presentation Summary
Health numeracy levels (i.e., people's ability to understand and work with health-related numbers) vary widely, yet numbers are embedded in nearly every health decision—from lab results to exposure information to risk probabilities. The challenge isn’t just about making numbers accessible but about making them meaningful for the specific decisions people face.
Drawing from the Making Numbers Meaningful systematic review, which identified over 1,100 findings on probability communication, this session will explore what research tells us about how different ways of presenting numbers influence people's understanding, perceptions, and choices. Rather than advocating for a universal best practice, Brian Zikmund-Fisher will highlight the trade-offs between different numerical formats and why effective number communication depends on the audience’s needs and the task at hand. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of why accuracy alone isn’t enough and how they can make numbers more meaningful in different situations and for diverse populations.
Speaker Bio
Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, Ph.D. is Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity and Research Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2004. He received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1991, a M.A. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1996, and a Ph.D. in Behavioral Decision Theory also from Carnegie Mellon in 2002. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the academic journals Medical Decision Making and MDM Policy & Practice