Adventures in Content Strategy
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin
About a year ago a coworker recommended I read The Health Gap, by Michael Marmot. It sounded interesting, but lingered on my “to read” list, until a few weeks ago. And now, wow. I recommend some books because they offer new and different information. Not this one. I recommend The Health Gap because Marmot says…
Stories dictate our lives. For proof, I offer this: it’s a well-known fact that medical students in their residences spend more time in the hospital than out. A 100hr week is normal, even though the lack of sleep is very dangerous. But why? The short term answer, which I found from the book Why We…
In a short, to-the-point article from Becker’s Hospital Review, science journalist Georgina Gonzalez listed out 6 challenges with telehealth. I read with interest, wondering to myself: can content strategy improve telehealth? 6 Challenges with telehealth The article is so short, I can share the meat of it right here: 1. Many medical issues are best…
As a content strategist, I believe words matter. The words doctors use can help or harm, and writing for the appropriate health literacy impacts a person’s ability to make healthy choices. But sometimes I need a reminder: it’s not enough. Social Determinants of Health add barriers for people to get care or care for themselves….
A clinician I work with recently synopsized our work writing clinical content brilliantly: “If the content isn’t accurate, it’s harmful. But if it’s not usable content, who cares?” This is at the heart of content strategy for healthcare. “Acute Myocardial Infarcions may lead to impairment in diastolic and systolic function” is clinically accurate, but hard…
Personalization in healthcare is one of the most important areas a UX person can focus. Why? It’s possible that healthcare is both the area where we are the most the same, and the most different. Everyone has a pulse. But each pulse beats at a slightly different rate. What’s more, while a lower pulse is…
In January I wrote about how a solid content strategy could really help improve vaccination numbers. There didn’t appear to be a vaccination content strategy, just as there hadn’t been a Covid content strategy. At the time, I quoted the New York Times’ morning newsletter (aptly titled The Morning), which was voicing concerns over vaccine…
Hari Tsoukas, an expert in organizational studies at the University of Cyprus, highlights the distinction between “information” and “knowledge.” Information, he wrote, “consists of objectified, decontextualized, time-less, impersonal, value-free representations,” whereas knowledge is “context-dependent, personalized, time-bound, and infused with values.” Robert Wachter, The Digital Doctor In 2017, Dr. Robert Wachter published The Digital Doctor. Shortly…
“We often think of adopting good healthy practices for the future. But what you come to realize, is that abiding by health habits can feel good now. Doing good feels good.” @drsanjaygupta A few weeks ago I had the good luck to attend Mad*Pow’s Health Experience Design conference and hear Dr. Sanjay Gupta. His explanation…
