Unit 6 Post

In the article titled Integrating Web 2.0 in Health Education Preparation and Practice, the authors describe the phenomena of Web 2.0, which includes the use of blogs, wikis, social-networking sites, and podcasts in the 21st century (p. 157). Essentially, I agree with the authors when they state that "Part of the reason for new media's appeal is interactivity and dialogue that may lead to clarity of thought and increased personal empowerment"
(p.160). In the present day, people have an immense level of personal empowerment due to the utilization of the internet. Nowadays, patients have the opportunity to educate themselves about a particular disease or medical treatment by using the internet to find relevant information. Also, patients have the ability to locate information regarding their symptoms or side effects of their medications by visiting certain websites such as WebMD, Drugstore.com, and PharmacyTimes.com. In other words, thanks to the internet, patients do not have to keep running to their physician’s office or visit their local pharmacist to receive answers on their basic health related questions. Moreover, the internet can serve as another mode of communication between two different individuals, groups, communities, and nations. People have the ability to join online groups or have access to individuals (across the globe) who can help them with their health or medical related issue. Especially through MySpace and Facebook, individuals can exchange advice and share their personal experience with others. For example, I have a friend who was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease called lupus. For the longest time, this particular ailment caused my friend to feel completely isolated and alone. She strongly believed she was the only one in the entire world who became a victim of such a terrible disease. However, one day while using Facebook, she discovered an online group where individuals from all over the United States shared their experience with lupus. My friend immediately interacted and befriended these individuals through instant messaging and she felt comforted in knowing she was not the only one in this world who was suffering from lupus. On the other hand, one major problem with using the internet as a resource is that anyone can post a website about anything. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether or not a particular website or online resource is credible. People have to be very careful in terms of what they read on the internet. As a future pharmacist, I would definitely like to incorporate new media at my workplace. Presumably, I see myself creating a genuine, easy access website that will provide my patients with general information regarding various diseases, medical treatments, health insurance plans, prescription drugs, and over the counter medications. Also, to make things more engaging and interactive for my patients, I plan to add various health-related quizzes, games, graphics, animations, and videos to my website. Furthermore, I see myself creating an online forum where individuals can share their personal experiences with others and provide words of encouragement or comfort.

Unit 5 Post

For the public service announcement project, my partner, Anh, and I decided to focus on heart disease since it is the leading cause of death in the United States. Before we started working on our project, we decided to brainstorm our ideas of what we needed to consider in order to create a marketing plan that would be inclusive of our PSA. In the article titled Social Marketing for Public Health, the authors explore the use of social marketing principles that aim to change behavior and improve public health (p. 110). We tried our best to follow the four marketing principles: product, price, place, and promotion. In my opinion, integrating all 4P’s was quite challenging because we did not want our PSA to appear like an advertisement or a commercial. Moving along, for our PSA, the product we were attempting to endorse was cholesterol screening. Also, in order to establish a place, we included a website that people could visit in order to find more information regarding heart disease and where they can receive their cholesterol screening. Our message is that obtaining a cholesterol screening every four years is imperative for adults who are 20 years and older because it can help lower their risk of heart disease. We anticipate that promoting a cholesterol screening as a way to alleviate the problem of heart disease will have an affect on the public and hopefully change the way individuals perceive their own health. Also, the only aspect of marketing principles that we did not emphasize in our PSA was price. Prices for cholesterol screenings can vary depending on what health insurance a patient has. Also, my partner and I thought about endorsing “free” cholesterol screenings, but we were not sure if doing so would put too much focus on our organization. Ultimately, my partner and I decided not to mention a specific price for cholesterol screenings because we thought it would become too commercial like, and we strictly wanted our PSA to focus on the issue. Furthermore, we believe that famous celebrities and experienced physicians have a major influence on persuading the public. Therefore, I decided to play the role of a famous actress and model, while Anh decided to play the role of an M.D. and the president of our fabricated organization called the Healthy Heart Foundation. Together, we attempted to convince our audience to take control of their health and to get their cholesterol screenings done immediately.