Successful Health and Medicine Communication in Earned, Owned, and Social Media: A Case Study

This article was written by Bill Ostrem, PhD, and is based on content presented by Abbie Miller, MWC, at the AMWA Medical Writing & Communication Conference. Additional session reports are available in the AMWA Journal.

Today's communication and media landscape offers medical writers a multitude of venues or "channels" for their writing. How do you as a medical writer choose an appropriate channel for a given purpose? And how do you tailor your message for that channel?

Furthering the Public’s Understanding of Science with Plain Language Summaries

In recent years, medical communicators have been creating documents called plain language summaries (PLS) to help patients, caregivers, and the general public to better understand the latest scientific findings and clinical trial results. 

The terms plain language summaries (PLS), plain language summaries (PLS) for clinical trials, plain language summaries for publication (PLSP), and plain language writing can be confusing — and are sometimes used interchangeably. Although each term has a different application, the documents share a single goal: to work toward inclusion and empowerment of nonexpert audiences.

An Introduction to Equity Science and Medical Writing

We do not live in a world where everyone — regardless of race, gender, gender identity, disability status, or income level — has the same access to high-quality health care, adequate housing, or nutrition. As a result, health outcomes are vastly unequal, causing marginalized populations to experience lower life expectancies and higher levels of preventable diseases.

Resources for Writing for a Global Audience

We live in an increasingly globalized world, and the field of medical communication is no exception. In fact, most medical writers and editors are creating materials for a global scientific audience.

A number of helpful resources, online and in print, exist to help people write clear, translatable prose for global audiences.

The Past, Present, and Future of Medical Misinformation

Fake political news has dominated the headlines over the past few years, but the proliferation of science denial and misinformation about health and medicine has also caused widespread concern. 

Using PEMAT to Create Effective Patient Education Materials

If patients and consumers don’t understand patient education materials — or don't know what action to take after reading or viewing them — those materials aren’t doing their job.

The result could be confusion, disengagement, or poor health outcomes. 

But how do we know whether health education materials are effective? One important health literacy tool that is used to assess patient education materials is the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT).