Healthcare Communications Vol
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Vol.Vol. 18, 20, No. No. 2, 3, 2009, 2011, ISSNISSN 1854-8466.1854-8466. Healthcare communications Vol. 20, No. 3, 2011 The Write Stuff EMWA Executive Committee Journal insights The Write Stuff is the offi cial publication of the European Medical Writers Asso- ciation. It is issued 4 times a year and aims to provide EMWA members with relevant, President: informative and interesting articles and news addressing issues relating to the broad Rita Wellens arena of medical writing. We are open to contributions from anyone whose ideas can Wellens Clinical Research Consulting complement these aims, but opinions expressed in individual articles are those of the Rillaar, Belgium authors and are not necessarily those held by EMWA as an association. [email protected] Articles or ideas should be submitted to the Journal Editor (see below) or another member of the Editorial Board. Vice President: Susan Batti Subscriptions Subscriptions are included in EMWA membership fees. 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The Write Stuff is printed on 100% recycled paper. 138 The Journal of the European Medical Writers Association The Write Stuff Vol. 20, No. 3, 2011 TOC Healthcare communications Vol 20, No. 3, 2011 Catherine Mary Ursula Schoenberg Healthcare communications: Out of Hours: On Chekhov, Figuring out the outside view 144 elephants and writing for pleasure 178 Matthew Doherty Diana Raffelsbauer Communication and collaboration— Going freelance: Infl uencing behaviour through effective The third of a series of interviews 180 partnership and information sharing 146 Translation Section Daniele La Barbera, Caterina La Cascia, Alice Mulè, Gabriele Berghammer Salvatore Raspanti, Andrea Rossi Outsourcing translations: Clinician–patient relationship The hows and whys of it 201 and adherence to treatment 150 Aksel Seyahi and Ariel Surface Trevor Lane Bilingual copyediting: Journal impact factor facts 153 Beyond translation 208 Christina Johnsen How to cope with the transition from being a sedated academic to a proactive but poor medical writer sprout 155 Neville W Goodman Prepositions and their role in Abba’s downfall 157 Alistair Reeves Since you mention Abba... 159 Julia Boese My way to medical writing 161 Joselita T. Salita Cover photograph Evaluating the return Cover photograph from Nadja Meister ([email protected]) on attending a conference 163 Graphic design on pages 166, 175, 197 and 207 by Anders Holmqvist Stephen Gilliver ([email protected]) Spotlight on Sweden: How English is changing and replacing Swedish 165 Regular features From the Editor’s desk 140 Message from the President 143 Freelance Section Webscout 168 Anders Holmqvist Journal watch 169 The Berlin conference—A review Good writing practice 171 from a non-writer 174 Words, Grammar & Co 183 For regulatory writers 188 Biomedical publishing shorts 190 Brian Bass and Sam Hamilton Medical journalism 194 Opposing views: Manuscript writers 199 Project versus hourly rates 176 Vital signs 209 The Journal of the European Medical Writers Association 139 Vol. 20, No. 3, 2011 The Write Stuff From the Editor’s desk Healthcare communications: A question of defi nition by Mario Nacinovich and Elise Langdon-Neuner Most EMWA members are employed directly or indirectly was “a term used by many, but it lacks a precise defi ni- by the pharmaceutical industry and their main remit is to tion” [3]. In a somewhat dramatic shift in thinking, Mai- produce documents for the regulatory authorities or docu- bach and Holtgrave later espoused that the term included ments that inform the medical community about drug prod- the use of “communication techniques and technologies to ucts, e.g. through papers published in biomedical journals. (positively) infl uence individuals, populations, and organi- This issue of TWS introduces medical writers who work in zations” [4]. More recently, Ishikawa and Kiuchi helped industry to healthcare communications. When the words to simplify our understanding by stating, “Health commu- ‘health’ and ‘communication’ are associated in a defi ni- nication consists of interpersonal or mass communication tion, we are to my mind talking about a fi eld that should activities focused on improving the health of individuals cross paths with medical writers. But do medical writers and populations” [5]. For many in our emerging fi eld, the work in healthcare communication? To answer this ques- following integrated defi nition has become the new gold- tion we need to establish the precise defi nition of health standard defi nition of health communication—it is a “mul- communications and for this I enlisted Mario Nacinovich’s tifaceted and multidisciplinary approach to reach different help. Mario is the editor in chief of the Journal of Com- audiences and share health-related information with the munication in Healthcare, Managing Director of AXON goal of infl uencing, engaging, and supporting individuals, Communications, and adjunct faculty at Boston University communities, health professionals, special groups, policy- and he explores the concept of health communications in makers and the public to champion, introduce, adopt, or the following paragraph. sustain a behaviour, practice, or policy that will ultimately Ongoing review and appraisal of health communications improve health outcomes” [6]. initiatives have confi rmed the value of adopting specifi c Three feature articles in this issue of TWS illustrate the communication strategies to promote health and ultimate- gold-standard defi nition of healthcare communications and ly facilitate the processes in the prevention and treatment highlight its diversity. Catherine Mary’s article probes the of disease. Effective health communications strategies elements necessary to engender public trust in healthcare worldwide unite varied approaches, theories and frame- messages issued by governmental authorities, healthcare works from a range of disciplines, including but not limit- professionals and journalists, by reference to the H1N1 in- ed to communication, public relations, behavioural scienc- fl uenza pandemic. Daniele La Barber and colleagues look es, social marketing, and health education. The defi nition in their article at how healthcare professionals can commu- and practical aspects of these disciplines can be considered nicate more effectively with their patients. The third article, empiric, while the defi nition of ‘health communication’ has written by Matthew Doherty of Medicines for Malaria Ven- not been universally accepted nor ingrained in its practi- ture, explains the role of Product Development Partnerships tioners. According to the Offi ce of Disease Prevention and in developing drugs that are not profi table for the pharma- Health Promotion in the United States, “Health communi- ceutical industry, and the importance and different aspects cation is the study and use of communication strategies to of communication