Rick Lesaar
The intersection of health and communications; on strategies to make global health and development efforts more effective and more widely and fully understood.
Beginning today and over the next two years, we should collectively assemble a comprehensive plan for the next American administration to restore the country’s public health system and its role in global health leadership. We should be creating the ‘Health Recovery Plan’ now rather than wait for a hectic transition period in 2020/2021.
Read MoreTo enhance the effectiveness of patient education and counseling, practitioners might adopt some of the techniques of advertising. These include frequent repetition of key messages, emphasizing benefits not just procedures, and associating success with persons well known and respected by the patient (a form of indirect endorsement).
Read MoreConsequences, not just facts and procedures, should be an essential part of most health communications. A redesigned nutritional food label is an intriguing example.
Read MoreThe field of Health Communications is broad and complex, not easily summarized in a chart or table. Please use this collection of cards showing the actor, audience, intent, and example of several of these methods to map out communications campaigns –in the field of health or otherwise.
Read MoreThe gist of a story can often be more memorable than the precision of a fact. Stories are often more easily repeated, and can have a longer life and a more lasting effect. So non-profits, NGOs, and intergovernmental organizations profitably build stories into any appeal for funding or any effort to raise awareness of the organizations and/or their causes.
Read MoreGiven the power of the bully pulpit, the extraordinary persuasiveness of the media, and the proven efficacy of the flu vaccine, it’s surprising how little U.S. presidents have publicly communicated and led by example on this issue.
Read MoreWHO should create a second website devoted to topics of personal health and wellness, as opposed to the broader, global health topics of its current site.
Read MoreUpdates to earlier posts on the UN Secretary General, CVS and Taget’s ClearRX system, Apple’s ResearchKit, and a look at who’s engaging and who’s engaged on social media.
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During the Presidential debates there was slight reference to healthcare in the US and no mention at all of global health issues.
Read MoreLike all of his or her predecessors, the next Secretary General of the UN will have little to no significant experience in global health. Is this a problem or a missed opportunity?
Read MoreIs it a realistic goal to vaccinate every child on Earth, from birth - 19, for 15 deadly and disabling diseases? A back-of-the-envelope calculation yields a surprising answer.
Read MoreThe NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci is without question a remarkable researcher and administrator…but as a health communicator, he has few peers.
Read MoreHow valuable would it be to have a tool that both sorted NGOs by the services they performed and by how effective they were in doing so?
Read MoreCDC does a remarkable and laudable job of influenza surveillance. Still, could it be improved? Maybe, yes…and probably, not.
Read MoreA look at the words we use to describe the risk / chance / chances / odds / likelihood / possibility / probability of contracting infectious diseases.
Read MoreThe need to differentiate Results from Activity and Enumeration and why how NGOs and GOs can best keep faith with all of their stakeholders.
Read MoreLooking at 18, prominent, global health organizations to see what social media they are using and what levels of engagement they achieve.
Read MoreFrom the perspective of packing, labeling, and design, why CVS should replace its amber pill bottles with Target’s ClearRX system.
Read MoreGiven all the hoopla at the launch of Apple Watch, you’d be forgiven if you missed a short segment that day (March 9, 2015) where Apple introduced an app-building suite called ResearchKit. Designed to make it easier for medical researchers to conduct large-scale studies, it has the potential to be a game-changer in public health.
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