I have been in working in the health sector doing patient, provider and health consumer education for over 20 years and what I know for sure is that there are no two patients alike. I also know that a ton of great information and leading edge tools are not the barrier for Canadians to improve their health.
So how do organizations with the mandate to support Canadians in being healthy, managing their health conditions or support patients in their self-management at home?
The answer is to provide the right information at the right time to the right audience. Which I think everyone can agree is the simple truth, but to do this in the health sector is anything but simple.
So, if no two cancers are alike, or two heart or lung or digestive conditions are alike and everyone’s health risk profile is unique and their attention and interest in making changes is different, how can we possibly meet the needs?
The answer lies in the hands of Canadians themselves: with a click of their mouse, they are able to tell us where their attention and interest lies. The challenge until now is how do we take the data across platforms and create an integrated picture of what patients want and then being able to serve up the right content at the pace and diverse interests of our audiences.
This requires a shift in how we see ourselves as health organizations.
We are no longer the ones deciding what our audiences should be reading or what self-management our patients should be doing. We can now put the power into the health consumers hands to decide what they are ready to engage with and how. Our role is to be the careful creators and curators of information that is credible and trust-worthy.
I think health charities and companies have done a great job of providing carefully developed health content that is trust-worthy, but less great at ensuring the people that want and need that information the most get it. It doesn’t matter whether they are on the web, email or social media, we should be reaching out and allowing them to engage with us, even when they switch the channel they are on.
What is a game-changer now is that there are software options that allow us to reach audiences across platforms. So whether they are in the web, social media, search engines, email, advertising etc. and no matter what information a user clicks and at what pace they click at, we can provide them with an instant source of tailored information that is built on algorithms to serve up content that matches their interest and level of desired engagement.
For instance, the information and tools useful for a patient that is newly diagnosed vs a patient that has been self-managing for a year vs a Canadian interested in prevention, the interests are completely different. For that matter the information that a patient, caregiver or healthcare provider wants and needs is vastly different, even thought it may be for the same health condition.
Is it possible to serve them all, at the pace they are interested in, without needing staff time to answer calls, send emails or book appointments etc.?
The answer to that is yes. Now more than ever, we are able to provide opportunities to reach, engage and service our audiences about their health through automation systems.
There are many options for platforms and literally thousands of options for automation. What is now firmly in the power and control of health organizations, is to provide the strategic elements on the right platform to serve the needs of thousands a day without needing to add to your payroll.
Stirling Marketing & Communications does not endorse any platform, but we use our decades of experience to help our clients find the solutions that best meet their needs. If you are interested learning more, please contact us to book a free consultation, with no strings attached! We guarantee you will learn something new that you can use. You can reach me at sarah@stirlingmarketing.ca
