Abstract

Both the title of this book and its sub-title-" A case study in adult learning"-are somewhat
misleading, for it has little to do directly either with the dissemination of information about
health or of learning in adult life. Its subject is public knowledge and attitudes to health and
medical care regarded as the end-products of the processes of communication and learning.
The data on which the book is based were obtained from a nation-wide-wide survey which
was carried-out in the United States in 1955 by the National Opinion Research centre. This
showed that although the level of knowledge on matters of health and disease among the
American public was generally high, there were certain quite substantial deficiencies which
contributed to what is described as the "medical-care gap". This is represented by the need
for medical attention which is not met -​​ by the existing health services.' Many people thought
that the appropriate time to consult a doctor was when-they were ill. The author points out
that ' early treatment depends upon an awareness that certain symptoms should lead a
person to seek medical advice promptly, but this knowledge was often lacking. He suggests
that some people fail to obtain necessary advice and treatment through ignorance of the
value of doing so.
The survey revealed substantial minorities in the population who were ignorant or
misinformed' abouta such matters as the signs of cancer, the symptoms of diabetes or the
infectious nature of poliomyelitis. On the whole, older people and the less well educated
were less, well informed than the rest. It was found that health knowledge was not generally
related to the particular needs and circumstances of the person. Rather, it showed a unitary
character, so that a person who was well informed on one health topic was likely to be well
informed about-others.
The medical profession was given consistently high ratings in terms of social prestige when
compared with other occupations and there was general satisfaction with the quality of care
received. The author suggests that the public may not be the best judge inthis respect and
their satisfaction may be due to ignorance of what could be achieved under optimum
conditions.
The book gives the impression of "padding", especially in the early chapters, and 80 pages,
equal to almost half of the text, are given up to the questionaries used in the enquiry.
Nevertheless, much of the content will be of interest to those concerned with health care and
health education in the community. But as the author himself remarks in the final discussion,
we do not yet understand the relationship between the knowledge that people have and the
way they behave; the one cannot be predicted from the other. The dissemination of
information is only one part of the process of raising the standard of behaviour related to
health in the community as a whole, but within this limitation this book has some useful
insights to offer.
S. P. W. Chave.​

http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/19672705086.html

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