Health Literacy: A Strategic Marketing Asset And Corporate Social Responsibility

Well being literacy might be outlined as folks’s competencies to entry, perceive, appraise and apply data to make well being choices in on a regular basis life. It helps people make wholesome selections in instances the place the boundaries between work and life aren’t so clear anymore.

When folks fall ailing, they search the most effective therapies attainable. However, how might they learn about these therapies if they are not supplied with easy-to-understand data within the first place? Pharmaceutical corporations develop numerous medicine and units to help folks in managing their situation, however solely on a couple of events are commercials offered in a method that educates the affected person. By spending extra time in making certain that each one their communications are clear to folks of any schooling degree, pharmaceutical corporations can enhance well being literacy.

Challenges Confronted With Well being Literacy

In accordance with the Workplace of Illness Prevention and Well being Promotion (Well being Communication Actions), over a 3rd of US adults-77 million people-would have problem with frequent well being duties, equivalent to following instructions on a prescription drug label or adhering to a childhood immunization schedule utilizing a regular chart.1

A report offered by the Institute of Medication means that 90 million folks, practically half of the grownup US inhabitants, lacks well being literacy expertise wanted to know and act on well being data and well being system calls for.2 Healthcare promoting has an extended strategy to go earlier than sufferers can discover it simpler to narrate and perceive the knowledge they’re receiving from these companies.

The present strategies getting used to market to folks with well being circumstances is making affected person schooling fall by the wayside. Individuals discover actors and fashions much less relatable in comparison with actual sufferers. If sufferers lack the well being literacy that’s wanted to know the adverts, the knowledge offered might mislead them or be misunderstood.

“ONLY 12 % of Adults have proficient well being literacy”

The US Division of Well being and Human Companies reported that solely 12 p.c of adults have proficient well being literacy.three Poor affected person schooling might result in poor administration of continual illnesses and even trigger setbacks. Individuals might skip their much-required appointments or exams, lack the flexibility to handle circumstances, get hospitalized usually and face elevated well being care prices. If sufferers aren’t conscious of the questions they need to ask about their medicines, in essence of how the drugs would act or react, they may expertise unfavourable outcomes.

Well being Literacy As A Strategic Advertising and marketing Asset And Company Social Accountability

Well being literacy can stop to be a problem if each pharmaceutical firms and healthcare suppliers take measures to teach their sufferers. The fast improvement of various communication channels has made folks appear omnipresent. This provides healthcare skilled entry to a wide range of communication channels (social media, blogs, neighborhood boards, affected person schooling drives, and so on.) to get well being data throughout.

Whereas there are many methods for pharmaceutical companies to enhance advertising and marketing by way of well being literacy, step one can be to start with writing data that can be simply understood.

“Simplicity is the last word sophistication.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

Utilizing technical jargons (on this case-industrial medical terminology) can intrude with well being literacy as a result of sufferers cannot make sense of what the phrases imply. Pharmaceutical firms ought to keep on with the native language and writing type in an effort to be sure that folks know what they’re doing by utilizing a selected medical gadget or taking a medicine.

Even the way in which data is laid out can enhance comprehension. The US Division of Well being and Human Companies counsel that the textual content ought to be in at the least 12-point font with little or no formatting, equivalent to script or italics.four Photos and bullet factors can be utilized to area out data and add which means to your communication. Information ought to be offered in brief sentences and phrases in order that sufferers don’t get overwhelmed once they’re studying a well being literature.

Multi-channel advertising and marketing has its personal set of challenges. Pamphlets and brochures provide small bursts of data at one place. Nevertheless, in relation to web sites, most individuals wrestle to seek for data. If pharmaceutical firms are in search of to develop their internet presence and spend money on varied Net Advertising and marketing actions, it is going to be sensible to design websites which are user-friendly. These web sites have to have clear classes, preserve a easy structure and use a wide range of media.

Allowing for the explosion of data that’s now out there to sufferers, direct-to-consumer promoting is the most effective guess for pharmaceutical corporations. By presenting data in an easy-to-understand method, pharmaceutical firms can improve affected person schooling with their publication.

Dr. Jonathan D’Souza is a Topic Matter Professional (Medico-marketing) at a number one Indian multinational consulting and enterprise options firm.