Healthy Conversations

Language is constantly evolving – particularly English, which seems to be in a continual state of flux. Only last month, dozens of internet-inspired expressions were included in the Oxford English Dictionary’s (OED) online update. As well as abbreviations (otherwise known as text speak) such as OMG (Oh my God/Oh my gosh), LOL (laughing out loud) and BFF (best friends forever), the phrase muffin top and the verb to heart (represented as a symbol) were given the seal of approval by the dictionary, which is widely accepted as the authority on the English language. Change is happening at such a pace that OED editors are reviewing existing entries and adding new words to the online version every three months – which makes you wonder whether the hard-copy version that takes at least ten years to compile may soon become obsolete. Words also appear to slip in and out of favour with a recent Sunday Times article reporting that term groovy is acceptable once again thanks to a trend in seventies-inspired fashion.

Interestingly, the use of txt spk (text speak) is spreading beyond the realms of the mobile phone and the instant message with authors such as Martin Amis and Will Self experimenting with the language in their work. Clearly, the need to communicate in fewer than 160 characters (or 140 if you consider Twitter) requires a certain amount of imagination and inventiveness. However, it also means that punctuation goes out of the window, no doubt sending Lynne Truss and members of The Queen’s English Society into a grammar meltdown. Txt spk has now been employed on countless occasions to help engage the younger generation. For example, author Michael Baum has adapted Shakespeare and Dickens to make the work of these writers more accessible to children. Of course, there is always the risk that appropriating language in this way might backfire. It seems likely that children will find txt spk less appealing if they know their parents are using it.

Unsurprisingly, the NHS has jumped on the bandwagon and applied some of these principles to its social marketing.

Recent public health campaigns covering a variety of topics, including teenage pregnancy, cervical screening and breastfeeding have adopted a less formal, more light-hearted approach
than those rolled out in the past and have been more successful as a result. This is because the people behind them understand that young people, the target demographic in all of these cases, are more receptive to this approach. Take the NHS Lancashire Be A Star breastfeeding campaign for example, which achieved national news coverage simply for being so ‘in tune’ with its audience.

Similarly, Primary Care Trusts across the West Midlands ran a three-year disease awareness campaign to improve cervical screening rates among 25-39 year old women. The success of the campaign, which resulted in a 16 per cent increase in the uptake of screening in the target group within the first three months, was attributed to its “eye-catching and colourful humour” and the fact that it acknowledged that having a smear test isn’t the greatest of experiences, hence the pants.

Then there’s NHS Leicester City’s video Teenage Kicks. The short which was filmed on a mobile phone and used actors to show a teenage girl giving birth on a school playing field, received thousands of hits after it was posted on video-sharing sites, including YouTube and Kontraband.

Thanks to a change in tack, these and other campaigns are helping to raise awareness of the issues and, more importantly, altering behaviour.

And with most complaints against doctors centring on communication rather than clinical shortcomings, is it also time for the medical profession to rethink the way it interacts with the general public?

Despite the fact that all medical students now receive formal communications training, doctors continue to be criticised for their bedside manner (or, more accurately, lack of) and while the situation is undoubtedly improving, there are still areas for development. For example, although The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey conducted across England during the first three months of 2010 showed that 81 per cent of patients said they got understandable answers to important questions all or most of the time from doctors, only 66 per cent of patients were given easy-to-understand written information about the type of cancer they had. Even though it’s acknowledged that the level of comprehension will depend on the education of the patient, guidelines recommend that jargon and three-letter acronyms should be avoided and silence should be welcomed, especially when breaking bad news.

While the medical profession is considered cutting edge when it comes to its use of social media and digital technology, is there a risk of more straightforward communications principles getting left behind?

For example, while employing abbreviations such as WYP (what’s your problem?) and IMO (in my opinion) might work with the under 25s, it is unlikely to resonate with the over 75s. At the end of the day, doctors are medical specialists not language specialists and so it seems unreasonable to expect them to keep up-to-speed with all the latest linguistic trends on top of everything else. Surely, all we really need is for them to be factual but sympathetic and refrain from using technical language or terms with ambiguous meanings. In other words, KISS (keep it simple, stupid), the classic media training guidance!