The Weber Shandwick Collective Announces The Launch of Health Equity Communications Offering In Partnership With The Patients Association 

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The Cross-Agency Effort, Together with Advisors and Key Stakeholders Will Work to Improve Equity Through Health Communication Focusing on Low Income and Ethnic Minority Patient Communities

 

  • Co-created with the community, The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC) and the Patients Association announce the launch of CORE (Community Offer Respect and Ease) a strategic planning model that puts equity at the centre of health communication and programme design and aims to quantify the impact of improving health outcomes
  • Research shows that 94.6 million, or 21.4% of the EU population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion 1
  • The populations of Europe are becoming increasingly ethnically diverse; in England and Wales, 25.7% of the population are from ethnic minority groups 2
  • The link between deprivation and poor health is well established while the link between ethnicity and poor health outcomes is increasingly better understood and equally poignant
  • TWSC and the Patients Association appeal to the healthcare industry to adopt the CORE model by intentionally reaching communities struggling to access and understand health information as part of all broad communications efforts

 

 

LONDON, October 2024 – Coinciding with Health Literacy Month, The Weber Shandwick Collective, the strategic communications and consulting network, has announced the launch of its Health Equity offer designed in partnership with the UK’s leading health and care charity, the Patients Association, and Health Equity Advisor, Dr. Tammy Boyce.

 

Centered around the design of a strategic planning model, CORE, the partnership aims to improve the impact of health communication efforts by bringing greater depth of insight and understanding of the barriers facing patient communities experiencing economic or social disadvantages.

 

“As a leading global healthcare communications consultancy, we have a responsibility to do more to reach the communities experiencing avoidable and unjust differences in health that can be mitigated through better access and understanding of information,” commented Rachael Pay, President, Health EMEA.

 

“The reality is, as healthcare PR professionals we need to challenge our clients to intentionally address the needs of low income and ethnic minority communities and ultimately drive truly inclusive work with impact.”

 

TWSC Health Equity offer will be integrated across all areas of the health and wellness business in EMEA.

 

This overarching initiative incorporates the Collective’s ongoing commitment to maintaining the highest accessibility standards for content through Accessible by Design, TWSC’s first-to-market agency commitment and client offering specifically designed to prioritise accessibility.

 

In addition, focus will also be placed on health literacy.  It is widely recognised that there is a strong social gradient in the population, with lower levels of health literacy much more common among the socially and economically disadvantaged and those from ethnic communities who are struggling to understand and navigate health information and services.

 

TWSC is committed to delivering communications that does not contribute to inadvertently widening health inequalities by developing information and services which do not meet the needs of those people who would benefit most from accessing them.

 

“We want to keep driving change and improving the lives of all patients.  This work is really very important to the Patients Association. We need healthcare companies to think harder about who they’re talking to and how they share information. Many people find it hard to get and understand health information.  If we can make this information clearer with resonance, we could make a huge difference to people’s lives. Action on this is one of the biggest things we can do to directly impact health outcomes”, explains Rachel Power, CEO the Patients Association.

 

The CORE Model  

Co-designed with patients from low income and ethnic minority communities, the CORE model addresses three key barriers to accessibility and inclusivity in health communications campaigns rooted in language, culture and ability.  Based on four ideals, a simple pragmatic model has emerged to help guide health communicators.  CORE stands for:

 

  • Community: reflective messaging in the right place at the right time
  • Offer: meaningful support reflective of the needs of the audience
  • Respect: holistic understanding and representation of patient audiences
  • Ease: clear, easily understood messaging and call-to-action

 

Dr Tammy Boyce, equity advisor to TWSC explains “certain patient communities are often incorrectly referred to by the private sector as ‘hard-to-reach’.  Through the design of a simple and pragmatic model the healthcare industry can confidently design patient communication programmes that will help address the needs of those struggling to access and understand information and support.

 

I applaud the Patients Association and The Weber Shandwick Collective for the design of CORE and raising the bar on inclusive health communications”.

 

The Health Equity offering and its new framework model will further advance women’s health equity, building on The Weber Shandwick Collective’s Women’s Health initiative to shape healthier futures for all women.

 

-ENDS-

 

References

  1. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Living_conditions_in_Europe_-poverty_and_social_exclusion. Last accessed October 2024
  2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021. Last accessed October 2024

 

About The Weber Shandwick Collective

The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC) is the strategic communications and consulting network. In addition to Weber Shandwick, TWSC brands include Cappuccino, Current Global, dna, Flipside, KRC Research, Powell Tate, Prime Weber Shandwick, Resolute Digital, That Lot and United Minds. The Weber Shandwick Collective is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit https://thewebershandwickcollective.com.

 

About The Patients Association

The Patients Association is an independent patient charity campaigning for improvements in health and care for patients.  Our purpose is to ensure that everybody can access and benefit from the health and care they need to live well, by ensuring services are designed and delivered through equal partnership with patients. For more information, visit https://www.patients-association.org.uk/.