Workshop Symposia

Health Barometer: Patient Motivation for Sustained Behaviour Change (W016)

Lee Cappel (Edelman)

Synopsis

Examining the Canadian public’s opinions about health and what drives health-related behaviour, the Edelman Health Barometer provides valuable insight into specific factors that motivate Canadians to make and sustain health changes. Developing effective medical communications initiatives requires an understanding and appreciation of the increasing complexity and ongoing evolution of influences that help shape an individual’s health-related decisions; such influences will be highlighted and discussed.

Funding Sources

Edelman

Purpose

To examine the Canadian public’s opinion about health and what drives health-related behaviour in order to inform medical communications initiatives that inspire sustained behaviour change.

Methods

In order to ensure a global sample that is statistically representative of the general population, approximately 1,000 adults were surveyed online in each of seven countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and Russia); approximately 5,000 respondents were surveyed online in the US; approximately 1,000 were surveyed face-to-face in India and China; and approximately 500 were surveyed face-to-face in Brazil and Mexico. In the global total, the US sample size is weighted down to 1,000 respondents to represent an equivalent portion of the total sample size of the other countries. The study also explored a number of demographic and psychographic factors, including disease status, information consumption, and technology use.

Results

We uncovered:

  • What people across demographics, psychographics and geographies believe that being healthy means, and what barriers prevent people from living healthy lives.
  • How to influence and inspire health behaviour change and health advocacy in ways that are achievable and sustainable.
  • The systemic role of the individual, family, community, public and private sector organizations, and government in influencing overall health.
  • The opportunity and imperative for business to help improve health in order to maximize value to society and be relevant and prosperous.
  • The technology, digital platforms and social media embassies people interact with to make health decisions and influence health behaviour.

http://healthbarometer.edelman.com/

Applications

Developing effective medical communications initiatives requires an understanding and appreciation of the increasing complexity and ongoing evolution of the influences on an individual’s healthrelated decisions, including motivation. The Edelman Health Barometer sheds light on these various influences, equipping providers with valuable information to help guide the design of medical education programs.

Future Directions

The Edelman Health Barometer is an annual survey that will continue in 2012 to help shed light on the evolving global public opinions about health.