Does the Internet help in health comm?

One phenomenon introduced by access to the Web is that patients now come to the doctor with much more information than they used to. Some people argue that's good: an informed patient is an empowered patient is a patient who takes control of his/her own health is a patient who is more likely to be healthier. Other people argue that's bad: an over-informed patient wastes the doctor's time with irrelevant information, doesn't know what to believe and what not to believe, doesn't have the expertise to make sense of information, etc.

The following blog post and the links to which it refers follow up on these issues:

A Doctors Disdain for Medical Googlers - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

Drug advertising

Celebrex Commercial Draws Criticism - New York Times

So, we've talked very briefly in class about "direct to consumer," or DTC, drug advertising. There's a new development in which a Celebrex ad is being criticized for being misleading. What I find interesting is the ad's format -- 2.5 minutes, rather than the usual 30 or 60 seconds. You can provide much more information in that kind of time. Take a look at the ad, at celebrex.com, and see what you think.

Health literacy -- a crucial issue in health care

The Importance of Knowing What the Doctor Is Talking About - New York Times

This article by Jane Brody of the New York Times (a Cornell alum and very proud of it!) shows how critical "health literacy" is for good health, and gives some practical suggestions for how to ensure patients understand what their doctors tell them.