Changing patient behavior and redesigning data

Really interesting lecture from Thomas Goetz on encouraging patient behavior change and redesigning medical data. Some key points:

Changing Patient Behavior:

• Behavior change is a huge issue in medicine - how to get patients to change their behavior in order to espouse preventative health.
• Fear is not a good driver of behavior change, but efficacy is - patients who feel empowered to change their own behavior will do it. They need a direct path towards getting better health.
• How to get people to change their behavior: target them directly with relevant information (not general fear tactics), and provide positive feedback when they do

Medical Data:

• The way we present medical data (ISI information, lab reports, drug ingredient information) is highly intimidating to patients.
• Goetz cites several interesting examples (around 8:40), including the back of a cereal box and an updated lab report, to present new ways to think about the presentation of medical data.