Patient Empowerment!
published in Pharma Relations issue 05/2022
Not only through, but of course strongly with the pandemic, the online search behavior around health issues has increased. Both the Internet and social media have developed into a sought-after information medium. Influencers also play an important role here - they give patients a voice, diseases a face, and increase self-determined decision-making authority.
The understanding of the term "health" has changed significantly in recent years. The trend: people attach greater importance to healthy nutrition, sufficient exercise and listening to their bodies. Patients are also much more informed about illnesses and take the maintenance and recovery of their own health into their own hands.
Since 2020 at the latest, health can no longer be taken for granted. In addition, there is a development from an individual understanding of health to a communal one. Suddenly, health concerns us all. And everyone is talking about it - in private, in the news, or on influencer channels with a wide range of reach.
Patient empowerment is about promoting decision-making skills so that patients can make self-determined decisions. This is particularly useful in areas where people encounter a lot of information and where there is little experience to make meaningful decisions.
Influencer marketing has long been a good way to create awareness for specific topics in the relevant target groups, to activate people to inform themselves more intensively about topics and to exchange information with each other. In the health context, multipliers can report on possible symptoms for disease awareness or educate people about treatment options as treatment awareness.
For example, as part of a disease awareness campaign, 2020 men and their partners raised awareness of possible symptoms of testosterone deficiency to mark World Men's Day.
In another example, influencers provided information about a new prescription option to quit smoking as a treatment awareness campaign for Aflofarm Germany at the turn of the year 21/22.
In addition to the opinions of doctors, family and friends, influencers are an important source of information that reaches many people, can be consulted on one's own initiative and create trust on sensitive topics with personal content. After all, vague symptoms or a fresh diagnosis can turn life completely upside down. The need for information among those affected is enormous. The goal is then to create space for exchange on health topics, to share one's own handling of the disease with others, to educate or to encourage.
With Sick Sad Girlz, the founders created a platform on Instagram in 2019 that provides a safe space for stories of physical and mental health from women around the world.
Influencers with their personal experiences, recommendations and stories in blog posts or on social media enable others to determine how they deal with their own health. They offer new, active and effective ways of informing themselves about issues and shedding light on diseases and their treatment from the perspective of those affected. Influencer marketing gives patients new competencies and self-responsibility as a boost for their decision-making authority Influencer marketing is patient empowerment!
Reading Tip: CONTEXT-MARKETING - The key to consumer behavior
The reference book for successful marketing strategies in everyday human contexts.
Published in 2021 by Springer Verlag.
Chapter 16: Kristina Kull, Jennifer Reinhard, and Uwe H. Lebok. Influencer Effect in the Context of Health and Disease, pp. 245-263.
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