November 2008 Archives
As I write this, voters are making their choices and by the time some of you read it you may already know the verdict. And then health care policy will become less about talking points and advertisements and more about the difficult policy detail. While that policy detail will come from people in important new White House and Cabinet positions, as well as the leadership in Congress, it will also focus on topics that directly impact how we consumers navigate the health care system in order to get and stay healthy.
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The first meeting of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) took place last week and a few of my Edelman colleagues were in attendance. The Dietary Guidelines form the basis for most of the government’s nutrition policy, feeding programs and education – including MyPyramid – and they are revised every five years.
The Boston Globe recently covered Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s efforts to be completely transparent about medical errors. Hospital CEO Paul Levy has embraced transparency, publishing quarterly reports on preventable errors and immediately releasing information about major medical errors (such as this one about a wrong-side surgery). The article has prompted new discussion from Dr. Levy on his blog about why transparency is necessary and how it can improve patient care.
It feels fair to say most people don’t like going to the dentist. Yet, for those of us in the UK that do choose to engage with this aspect of our health by having regular check-ups, it is not always possible to do so. Earlier this year, a Citizen’s Advice poll suggested a lack of access has prevented one in six people from seeing an NHS dentist for almost two years. However, as we are now living longer, managing our dental (and overall) health throughout our lives is more important than ever.
“Will President Obama be manna for the Indian healthcare industry?” is the headline in the business section of an Indian newspaper on Friday. The writer of the article, who is closely linked with the global pharma industry, refers to the President-elect’s plans to make affordable and quality healthcare coverage available to all Americans as an opportunity for Indian generic players and contract manufacturing companies.
Am I the only person in health communications that is so engaged in promoting health that she forgets about her own health? I took on an intensive search to find blogs about the health of people who work in the business of health…. You guessed it: not much. So how did I end up thinking about this? I must confess. I was dragged by a friend who I admire -- breast cancer survivor Nanes Masa (who just recently swam across Mar de Cortez along with seven other women to promote awareness on cervical cancer), to my gynecologist. I hadn’t been in several years. I went for a “routine checkup” and much to my surprise I found out that I needed a hysterectomy. All is fine, but this could have been detected much earlier and of course what would’ve been a minor procedure to remove small myomas became now a full hysterectomy. So I wonder. I spend most of my time promoting health, and quite embarrassingly, here I am, having skipped a gynecologist appointment for almost three years…. Not good. I know…
In the U.S. Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Takes A First Step
posted by Gary Karr on Nov 13, 2008
posted by Gary Karr on Nov 13, 2008
With the election over, the first serious step toward major health care changes in Congress took place yesterday. The step-taker was Max Baucus, a Democratic U.S. Senator from Montana perhaps unknown in much of the country but very much known and powerful in Washington because he is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Baucus released a white paper, “Call To Action: Health Reform 2009,” that outlines his priorities for a health care overhaul in the next congressional session.
Koreans have traditionally viewed mental disease as a very taboo subject. If someone in the family suffered from any form of mental affliction, the family kept silent and tried to keep the loved one out of sight or at least tried to limit public outings.
Following up on my last post, two recent online posts by Paul Levy of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center touch on the challenges of communicating about transparency.
Unless you haven't been online this week, you've probably read something about Motrin's botched appeal to moms using slings or Baby Bjorn-type carriers. The pharmaceutical industry has real concerns about engaging with consumers because of the regulations they must work within. But there are ways to engage consumers within the rules. For too long, pharma has resisted jumping into this space, fearing the risks, but the risks of NOT getting involved are quickly becoming evident and potentially larger.
Stakeholder Engagement – A Little (or a Lot of) Help From Your Friends
posted by Nancy Turett on Nov 25, 2008
posted by Nancy Turett on Nov 25, 2008
Here’s a post from my LA colleague Lisa Waters (SVP/Group Head, Health). Talk about engagement!
I’ve had the unbelievable opportunity to work on the “Me Not Meth” campaign for the California Methamphetamine Initiative, which has so humbly helped me experience what true health engagement can do to encourage behavior change. From the minute we began the assignment we faced stakeholder skepticism related to social marketing and public education campaigns. It was this challenge that made the true engagement of these stakeholders a critical factor in achieving our goals to dissuade potential users from trying meth and nudge current users to seek treatment for their addiction.
Tom Norton (EVP, Health), my colleague from Edelman’s Chicago office, outlines how important it is for health stakeholders to embrace a positive message in shaping health care reform in the post below. Let us know what you think.
If anyone thought the global financial crisis would delay the new Congress from tackling broad health-care reform, recent events have dissolved such sentiment. President-elect Barack Obama lost little time naming former Sen. Tom Daschle as his health leader, and Senate Democratic heavyweights Sens. Max Baucus and Edward Kennedy have weighed in with their health care overhaul plans.
Health Engagement Barometer Report - Download PDF
Health Engagement Barometer Study - Download Deck
Audio From Barometer Launch Presentation
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