Horst Faas, Photographer Dies at 79 http://t.co/FuHarpux #
It was a sunny Thursday evening. It was Soho. It was Hive’s copywriters – me and Debbie – enjoying a nice pint of non-premium, non-Belgian beer at the Coach & Horses. It was bribery with two of (supposedly) the most expensive pints in the country. It was Leffe. It was an impromptu photo shoot, with direction from Nigel. It was a misquote. It was probably the most pointless news story of all time. Cheers, Evening Standard.
In an increasingly rich information environment, the format in which information is presented is becoming more and more important. Beauty = Cut Through. But will content be ignored as irrelevant if it’s ugly? Will it be received prejudicially in a positive or negative manner because of how it’s packaged? Does content, in the traditional sense, now play second fiddle to its aesthetic framing? Answering yes to these questions poses some problems . . . The internet is worshipped as heralding the democratisation of knowledge, but is this really the case when money can buy you a slick, good-looking website and potentially a more engaged and susceptible/suggestible audience? As always, we’d love to know what you think.
But, on the upside, this emphasis on impact, interaction and beauty can lend itself to a more easily navigable and digestible information environment. For example, this. It’s a visual, interactive representation of the scientific evidence for popular health supplements. 5 minutes playing with this app reveals more about the evidence base (or lack thereof) for health supplements than 5 days on PubMed. And it looks nice too. I like it.
Thomas Goetz is a journalist and executive editor of Wired Magazine. He’s also a really smart guy. His new book, called The Decision Tree, is all about how people can take control of their healthcare using data and tools which are readily available on the internet. It goes above and beyond most other health improvement books in terms of rigour (it’s based on good science) and readability (it’s easy for me to understand) The big idea is this: Our health doesn’t happen all at once; it’s a consequence of years of choices – some large and some small – that combine to make up our health. Sometimes we’ve chosen wisely and we enjoy good health; sometimes we choose poorly and we suffer the consequences. A decision tree, then is a device that can make these decisions more explicit and more obviously something we are actually choosing – it’s a way to externalise, make a note of, the choices that we otherwise make without much thought at all. Research shows that when we actually engage in a decision (when we think it through, even if just for a moment) we tend to make a better decision, defined both as one that we’re more happy with in hindsight and one that bodes a better outcome. Also, we more likely to commit to our choice, to stick by it when faced with the opportunity to change our minds. By engaging with our health consciously and explicitly as a series of decisions, one leading to another, we can become “smarter” and enjoy better health. Click on the two podcasts below – Highly recommended.
A study conducted by a team of researchers at King’s College London has revealed that public understanding of basic anatomy is extremely poor, and has not improved in 40 years.
The researchers asked more than 700 people to look at outlines of both a male and female body and identify which of several shaded areas was a particular organ. The results are shocking. Less than half the respondents could correctly place the heart, while under one-third could place the lungs in their correct location. Interestingly, even those respondents for whom the organ had a relevance performed poorly – for example, more than half of those with renal problems did not correctly identify the location of the kidneys. These findings don’t exactly fit with the picture of the modern, tech-savvy, informed patient that lives in my head.
The researchers also said their findings raise concerns about doctor-patient communication. No shit. Try having a meaningful conversation with a quantum physicist about string theory, without knowing what strings are or where they live. I tried. It’s difficult. Especially when drunk.
And, with the introduction of patient choice in healthcare, concerns about health illiteracy are only become graver. Should Joe Public, who doesn’t know his prostate from his pancreas, really be at the helm when it comes to his healthcare? Would you let me, a copywriter, service your car? Didn’t think so.
This, by the way, is not an argument against patient choice. But, let’s get realistic. The patient needs advice, information and support before being able to take on the role of ‘healthcare chooser’. Or, at the very least, lessons in basic anatomy.
