The Journal of Consumer Affairs articles from June 2009

The Journal of Consumer Affairs archives from June 2009

On break-up cliches guiding health literacy's future.
June 22, 2009... With the recognized need to increase health literacy, some practices have not worked and, therefore, "should be dumped." Herein we present alternative approaches that may increase health literacy. ********** Is this the beginning......

Health literacy for improved health outcomes: effective capital in the marketplace.
June 22, 2009... Improving consumers' health literacy addresses many of the rising problems in healthcare. We empirically support a reconceptualization of health literacy as a social and cultural practice through which adults leverage a range of skills as well...

Health insurance literacy of older adults.
June 22, 2009... We developed an instrument to measure dimensions of health insurance literacy reflecting familiarity with health insurance terminology and proficiency with the Medicare program. The instrument's items were based on a conceptual framework...

The roles of gender and motivation as moderators of the effects of calorie and nutrient information provision on away-from-home foods.
June 22, 2009... Given substantial concern about the many negative consequences associated with the American obesity epidemic, legislation which would require chain restaurants to provide nutrition information on menus and menu boards has been proposed at the...

Using the thrifty food plan to assess the cost of a nutritious diet.
June 22, 2009... The federal government's Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) minimizes the difference between a proposed food plan and a current consumption bundle, subject to cost and nutrition constraints. This article adapted the TFP framework to estimate the cost of a...

Misguided optimism among college student smokers: leveraging their quit-smoking strategies for smoking cessation campaigns.
June 22, 2009... College student smokers are a unique group who typically plan to quit smoking by the time they graduate, but few succeed and those who do require multiple attempts. This study examines the strategies of college student participants who...

The effectiveness of cigarette warning label threats on nonsmoking adolescents.
June 22, 2009... This experiment investigated three levels of threat in cigarette warning labels: no warning/text warning only/text + graphic warning. Teenagers in Canada and the US were exposed to one of these labels in a web-surfing environment. Participants...

Complex sample design effects and health insurance variance estimation.
June 22, 2009... Fifty-one articles using complex sample data published between 2000 and 2007 in three journals are reviewed. Of these, three articles indicate whether the analyses account for sampling design when calculating standard errors. To demonstrate how...

The impact of consumers' health literacy on public health.
June 22, 2009... The disturbingly low rates of health literacy in the United States translate into increased health risks across society as a whole, and vulnerable populations, in particular. The public health and economic implications of these trends are...

Health information consumers can't or don't want to use.(EDITORIAL POSTLUDE)
June 22, 2009... As a consumer education issue, health literacy asks what is needed for people to make rational informed decisions. As a consumer protection issue, it questions what information consumers can or would use and how they might use it....