The healthcare sector is rapidly changing and so too is how practitioners’ view their industry, what constitutes good health and how the sector could be improved for the better.

Earlier this month we attended PRCA’s Health Conference to engage with the latest thinking, around ‘whole person health’ or ‘Health 360’, as it’s also known, and how communicators can support in shaping the industry’s journey towards more personalised care.

Here are some of our key takeaways from the day:

More holistic thinking

The majority of health care professionals (66%) are now taking a more holistic view of health rather than just what affects the physical body.  Considerations such as social local communities, environment, mental health and other socioeconomic and lifestyle factors such as religion, education and sexuality all play an increasingly important part in what constitutes a person’s health.

The conversation around health must move away from simply talking about a failure of a lifestyle or the physical body and consider the ‘whole person’ and the factors that impacts them. As communicators we play an important role in ensuring the language we use is up to date and fit for purpose to avoid contradictory messaging and help build empathy within health communications so patients feel supported rather than at fault experiencing ill health.

Health influencers… but not the ones you’d expect

As communicators we must support organisations in considering all influences contributing to in an individual’s health. Health influencers, (not the social media kind, but rather those influencing our health,) are becoming more important than ever before. These individuals and organisations can be anyone from your parents to the supermarkets where we shop and even your place of work.

Considering these audiences as core stakeholders in your work, and the power of influence they hold will, make it easier to create positive health outcomes.

For example, in trials where supermarkets removed unhealthy foods from the point of sale and other key footfall areas, customers ended up buying healthier shopping baskets. This trial proved it’s possible to create an environment positively impacting health without retailers making a loss on profit.

Eradicating health inequalities

Much of our work as communicators in healthcare is to tell the stories of projects making healthcare more widespread, improving outcomes and eradicating health inequalities. There are still huge discrepancies between different genders, geographies and ethnic groups when it comes to care.

Understanding inequalities and developing bespoke content to different audiences and addressing the challenges and barriers they face, will help create better support for patients. Communicators play a crucial role in telling the stories and calling out inequalities and advocating for positive change.

Long-term policy making

Similar to the positive advocacy that could be made when using communications for supporting individual patient access, can and should be applied to support longer-term policy making to improve health.

Storytelling and evidencing of long-term impact on health and its place within a national economy, is vital in creating the landscape to promote long-term thinking and policy change.

We have many years of experience working within the healthcare and health innovation sector, we understand the complexities and nuances of the industry and what promotes positive change. If you would like to find out how we could help you or learn more about our offering, we’d love for you to get in touch.