Final Exam Questions

Ten questions:

1. In your opinion, what are the two most important defining features of health care communication, and why?
2. Use our class discussion on the theory of the diffusion of innovation and the importance of "early adopters" to assess the emergence of E-health and its impact on health care communication.
3. Outline how family and/or cultural beliefs affect your ideas of health and illness, and how those beliefs may support (or detract from) your abilities as a health care communicator.
4. Describe the most common verbal and non-verbal clues that affect satisfaction with health-related encounters.  How are those clues affected by culture, age, gender, etc.?  (Hint: begin with the greeting and work forward...)
5. You are pitching publications with a story aimed at raising awareness of the importance of regular mammograms for the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in women over 40 years of age.  List some potential elements and angles for your story to attract reporters' attention and secure media coverage.
6. You've been hired as a communications consultant to develop a health communications plan.  Identify the steps in your process of developing the plan.  Would you use an "expert-led" approach or a more participatory approach?  Why?
7. What are the key characteristics of "good" objectives?
8. Define an "audience analysis" and discuss the importance of research to a sound understanding of an audience.
9. Using the SMART approach, assess the following communications objectives:
1. "By the year 2012, 5 percent of U.S. parents who live in Florida will use sunscreen and other preventive measures to protect their children from the damaging effects of excessive sun exposure."
2. "Reduce the incidence of skin cancer."
10. Describe how you would measure the cost-effectiveness of two different tactics you are proposing to influence the behavior of a specific population.  Assume both tactics have been validated as equally effective and focus only on cost-effectiveness parameters, e.g. financial cost, human resources costs, time, etc.)

Outline For Major Project

Some of you have chosen to analyze an existing campaign. Some of you have chosen to develop a new campaign.  Regardless, the following outline should be helpful.

• Analyze or develop a campaign strategy.
• Analyze and diagnose the environment and marketplace.
• Audience analysis
• Environment (PEST analysis)
• Organizational/internal assessment (SWOT)
• Choose among strategic options
• Communications plan (a broad outline)
• Tactics employed - be medium, market, segment, audience.
• Targets & Means - the 'what's' and the 'by when's'
• Metrics - how measured.
• Feedback and evaluation
• If analyzing an existing campaign: what worked?  What learnings?
• If creating a new campaign: how would you measure success?

The Three "N's" of Social Media

Social Media has taken a route into many people's lives as the three "N's". It is becoming Natural, Needed, and a Necessity. Many people have noticed that any online work or communicating through text is now as natural as simply talking. Social media is almost becoming the "needed" version to communicate to other people. As we look at the new cell phones coming out, they are compacted with new gadgets that we would never dream of having in a single phone ten years ago. The very iphone has more to offer than a telephone book, a computer, an ipod, a clock, entertainment, a notebook, and much more combined. Still, there is an app for facebook. Many companies now just do not have websites, they have facebook pages to promote their company. Even Chipotle has its own app. Having a interaction with the public is not just informing people what the company is about through a website like it was before. More personal approaches are taking place to dig deeper into people's interests by using all sorts of social media.
Applications for jobs are being given online. If a person wanted to apply for Starbucks, they have no other option than to apply online. Interviews are now being held through Skype! The new futuristic ways of living life are happening now in this generation. Reaching out to the public in the areas that they are most reachable is the idea of spreading business. Social media is changing and constantly being added too and is headed toward a new way of living. Hospitals even have their own websites. There are doctors who have two facebook pages; one for their professional life and one for their social life. It is scary but realistically true that companies are now looking at facebook when looking to hire new employees. It is now be encouraged that people should caution what is being revealed on their pages. Employers are now looking at all of these aspects in order to get a full understanding of who a future employee may be, the current "status" on a current employee, or may even have a page themselves.
Social media is taking a turn in how the way the world works. Personal information is being so easily obtainable. Having a social life and a professional life are rapidly being conjoined. The funny thing is that people are liking and accepting this new approach. This could be a new revolution of how major companies manage their businesses whether it is through PR or simply community relations.

The Influence of Social Media on Public Relations in the Health care System

First of all, let’s define the role of Public Relations in any organization. PR’s main role is to build and maintain the reputation of an organization. However, with the rapid growth of the Social media in today’s society, I feel that PR sort of losing their power of maintaining the reputation of any organization, especially in the Health care system.

Nothing is hidden anymore. People use social media to share their dissatisfaction and frustration. It seems that they feel that by voicing their opinions, disappointments, and so on , on Facebook for example, their voice is heard somehow. And most of the time, immediate feedback is given by fellow users.

Let’s say for instance, someone experiences a malpractice at a hospital, if this person is a faithful user of FB, chances are he or she will share that on FB; what that does, it immediately raise doubts in the mind of whoever reads about this disagreeable experience. Consequently, the reputation of this hospital is automatically affected.

Another crucial thing is that, people use Social media to find information that are related to their health issues. Not too long ago, a friend on my FB’s list posted that her 1 year old daughter had a cold, before the day was over, there were many comments on her page, each suggesting what she should do to solve the problem.
PR’s personnel, needs to be mindful of the existence of Social Media in today’s society and plan in accordance if they want to be successful in their jobs.

More Patient Users than Hospitals

Social media has become a phenomenon that has integrated into everyday living. Social media sources are being tapped into everyday by thousands of people, and many of these are individuals looking for answers to medical questions. This praticular group has been given the name e-patients and are becoming more and more dependent on social media outlets for a wide variety of health are information.

Having a website is no longer enough for hospitals. The opportunity for facebook and twitter accounts, blog postings by physcians, CEO's, board members, and patients, youTube postings, and podcasts are endless. It doesn't appear however, that the healthcare industry is really infiltrating the social media world. According to healthcareitnews.com, only 1 in 3 hospitals has a social media plan. Maybe that is because they haven't realized the benefits included in such things.

In cases of crisis management, community relations, public affairs and marketing it allows the hospital employees to "speak" directly to the public. Besides being most of the time free, there is no need for a middle man and an opportunity for transparency appears. Also, the message is being put into the hands of the public in a way that is most convinent and comfortable for them. Social media allows the healthcare team to get directly into the homes and lives of the public. As far as marketing and public relations goes, the possibility to be creative and hit a wide variety of audiences is endless. You can use written, video, or oral means of spreading the word.

Social media is changing the way the world finds out information and patients have latched onto this. Healthcare systems do too. The advantages it offers to healthcare systems is endless.

Social media seems to be a new innovation to healthcare

Healthcare marketing has nothing to do with social media in the past; however, technology advancement brings healthcare marketing into a new era. 34% of consumers use social media to search for health information, according to research data from "How American Searches: Health and Wellness".

Today people rely a lot of the internet, and they believe in what they see online. Furthermore, 78% of internet users trust the opinions and recommendations of other people, according to the Nelson Report 2007. Surprisingly, even physicians are using online resources for work.

Through social media, people not only get to get connected with you, but also sell and advocate you and your organization. In order to send the healthcare messages correctly and effectively, several criteria are being emphasized.

First, medical personnel need to learn how to use social media to communicate with the audiences. Little kids nowadays seem to have the inborn talent on using internet, but this talent is not applicable to young adults. Medical personnel need to know what messages are acceptable to send out and what are not.

Second, social media can serve as a way to educate the public. The public wants to know the accurate information regarding the healthcare service, medication, etc, give all the information to them through the net.

Third, it is easier to reach the audiences using the online platforms they are familiar with. We are all creative and adventurous. When it comes to marketing, it is better to start with something people have heard of and trust.

Undoubtedly, there are always both positive and negative sides, especially marketing through social media. You should not choose to do nothing in order to avoid negative feedback or outcome. Make yourself invisible and reachable to the public, this is the most important task.

Washington Adventist Hospital -- Patient's Rights

Patient's Rights & Responsibilities

Washington Adventist Hospital accepts the following principles in its commitment to provide respectful care.

You have the right:

1. To know by name the physician, nurses and staff members responsible for your care.
2. To effective communication.
3. To a reasonable response to requests and needs for treatment or service, within the hospital's capacity, stated mission, and applicable law and regulations.
4. To receive respectful care with consideration of cultural, psychosocial, spiritual and personal values, beliefs and preferences that optimizes comfort and dignity.
5. To receive current, accurate, and understandable information from his or her doctor(s) about diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.
6. To make decisions involving his or her health care in collaboration with his or her physician.
7. To give informed consent to all procedures and treatment to be rendered, and to have questions answered; and to refuse and/or to discontinue procedures and treatment and to be informed of the consequences of such a decision.
8. To access pastoral care or other spiritual services.
9. To participate (or have a designated representative participate) with the Patient Care Advisory Committee in the consideration of ethical issues that arise regarding his or her care.
10. When the patient is not competent to make decisions, the surrogate decision maker as allowed by law has the right to consent to or refuse care, treatment and services on the patient's behalf.
11. To prepare advance medical directives and appoint a surrogate to make health care decisions on the patient's behalf, to the extent permitted by law.
12. To have reasonable privacy during examination and treatment.
13. To receive the most appropriate and/or effective pain relief.
14. To have communications and records concerning treatment be maintained confidentially, in accordance with legal requirements, unless consent to their release is granted.
15. To have access to all information contained in the medical record.
16. To be informed of any human experimentation or other research/educational projects affecting his or her care or treatment.
17. If a transfer from the hospital becomes necessary, to receive an explanation of the reasons(s) for the transfer and any alternatives to the transfer.
18. To examine the hospital bill and have it explained, regardless of who is responsible for its payment.
19. The patient has the right to have his/her family or surrogate decision maker, as appropriate and as allowed by law, involved in care, treatment and service discussions.

If you or your family member has a concern about patient care or safety at Washington Adventist Hospital please speak to the Charge Nurse on your unit or Patient Relations at x5476. You may also contact the Joint Commission at 1-800-994-6610. You may access their website: www.jointcommission.org and click the link for complaints, or email them directly: complaint@jointcommission.org.

You in turn, have the responsibility:

1. To follow hospital rules and regulations.
2. To give cooperation and to follow the care prescribed or recommended for you by your physician, nurses or allied health personnel.
3. To notify your physician or nurse if you do not understand your diagnosis, treatment or prognosis.
4. To let the nurse and your family know if you feel you are receiving too many outside visitors.
5. To respect the privacy of other patients.
6. To accept your financial obligations associated with your care.
7. To advise your nurse, physician and/or Patient Representative (extension 5476) of any dissatisfaction you may have in regard to your care at the hospital.
8. To be considerate of the rights of other patients and hospital personnel, to assist in the control of noise and to follow the hospital's no-smoking, visitor and other policies.

The first thing that struck me about these patient's rights was the wording for the title. It states, Patients Right AND Responsibilities. Meaning that the patient has a responsibility here and is not only on the receiving end. The next thought I had was on the second point where patients have the right to effective communication. I am now interested in the daily operations of this hospital to know if they realize how difficult it is to essentially be promising effective communication.

It is also interesting to note the fact that the hospital stresses the patients responsibility to inform their caregivers of any dissatisfaction they are feeling during their stay. When reading the point about the financial obligation, I felt it was included to protect the hospital and not so much for the benefit of the patient...which is what patient's rights should be for, correct?

Last, I did not post in on here, but a Spanish translation could also be found on the same page.