Health literacy can be defined as people’s competencies to access, understand, appraise and apply information to make health choices in everyday life. It assists individuals make healthy decisions in times where the boundaries between life and work are not so clear anymore. When people fall sick, they seek the best treatments possible.
Treatments
But, how can they know about these treatments if they are not provided with easy-to-understand info in the first place? Pharmaceutical companies develop countless drugs and devices to assist people in managing their illness, but only on a few events are advertisements introduced in a way that educates the patient. By spending more time in making sure that their communications are clear to individuals of any education level, pharmaceutical companies can enhance health literacy.
A report presented by the Institute of Medicine suggests that 90 million people, almost half of the adult US population, lacks health literacy skills required to comprehend and act on health information and health system needs.
Healthcare marketing
It has a ways to go before patients may find it easier to relate and understand the information they’re getting from such businesses. The recent methods used to market to individuals with health conditions is creating patient education fall by the wayside. People find models and actors less relatable in comparison to real patients. If patients lack the health literacy that’s needed to comprehend the advertisements, the information provided could mislead them or be misunderstood. The US Department of Health and Human Services reported that only 12 percent of adults have proficient health literacy
Poor patient education
It could result in bad control of chronic ailments as well as cause setbacks. People can bypass their much-required appointments or tests, lack the capability to handle conditions, get hospitalized frequently and face greater health care expenses. If patients aren’t conscious of the questions they need to ask about their medications, in essence of the way the medication would act or react, they might experience negative outcomes. Health literacy can end up being a challenge if both pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers take steps to educate their patients. The rapid evolution of different communication channels has made folks look omnipresent.
This provides healthcare professional access to many different communication channels (social websites, blogs, community forums, patient education drives, etc.) to find health information across. While there are loads of ways for pharmaceutical companies to boost marketing through health literacy, the first step is to start with writing advice that will be easily known. Using technical jargons (in this case-industrial medical terminology) can interfere with health literacy because patients can not make sense of what the words imply.
Pharmaceutical companies should stick with the local language and writing style to be able to make certain that people know what they’re doing by using a particular medical device or taking a drug. The way information is laid out can enhance understanding. The US Department of Health and Human Services imply that the text must be in at least 12-point ribbon with little if any formatting, such as script or italics
Take into account
Images and bullet points may be used to space out information and add meaning to your communication. Facts should be presented in brief paragraphs and phrases so that individuals don’t get overwhelmed when they are studying a health literature. Multi-channel advertising has its own set of challenges. Pamphlets and brochures provide little bursts of information at the same place. However, when it comes to websites, the majority of people today struggle to look for information.
If pharmaceutical companies are working to expand their web presence and invest in various Web Marketing activities, it’ll be sensible to design sites which are user-friendly. These websites will need to have clear classes, keep a very simple layout and use an assortment of media. Bearing in mind the explosion of information that’s currently available to individuals, direct-to-consumer advertising is your best option for pharmaceutical firms. By presenting information in an easy-to-understand fashion, pharmaceutical companies can boost patient education with their publication.