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Prescription for Clarity
Last week, I spoke at the inaugural M2W-Healthcare Conference in Washington, DC where leaders in healthcare communications, marketing and policy (from Dr. Nancy Snyderman to Dr. Barry Sears) weighed in on the critical role of women and the mandate for the healthcare industry to start listening to their number one caregivers.
We were just blocks away from the halls of Congress and I have to say that I wish that some of the folks debating our national healthcare reform initiatives had stopped in. I shared some of the Half Truths of health, like “I try to be healthy” (if so, what’s up with 32 mm overweight American women) or “I speak up to my doctor”, (yet women back down when faced with disapproval from a beloved doc.) We have such a long way to go to get women to feel listened to and until then, it’s just easier for them to hide the real story.
The inadequacy of care, insurance coverage, straight talk and simple solutions for women is a huge deal. Though there have been some recent motions to raise healthcare as a women’s issue, it’s a whisper compared to the reality. One of my favorite quotes at the conference came from Peter Pitts who said that the only way to gain trust is through transparency. With all the red tape and mumbo jumbo in this category, we’ve got quite a ways to go to telling the Whole Truth to women in terms they can comprehend.
No wonder there’s so much she’s not telling.
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