Reliable and Effective Healthcare Messaging in a Changing World

Abstract

Panthagani et al. from Yale university have provided a comprehensive review on how the public currently obtain their facts on medical matters. In all developed countries the departments of health and professional medical bodies use a time-honoured system to communicate healthcare information. It is a top-down approach that involves the initial scientific evaluation of both existing and new evidence by the relevant experts, and then the subsequent transmission of the conclusions and recommendations through government health campaigns, academic and professional organisations, official healthcare portals, and ultimately in the individual doctor-patient discussions. For the most part it works well. Access to reliable health information is an important necessity for all patients when they are trying to reach a health-related decision. Good quality information allows patients to take more control of their healthcare.

In recent years it has become increasingly obvious that the current health communication programmes are at times regarded as insufficient by some members of the public. It is stated in patient surveys that the message can be too complex and too difficult to understand. Also, the communication structures are not conducive to asking further questions and getting clearer answers where needed. In one American study, most people thought that clinicians were knowledgeable but some felt that they were good communicators. The healthcare websites are considered too static and not sufficiently interactive. In other words, they are not keeping up with the current, fastmoving digital age in which people expect immediate access to the medical information that they are seeking. The official responses to the public’s concerns in relation to whether rumours about medical matters are true or untrue, are considered to be too slow.