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There are strategic moments for a healthcare organization’s spokesperson to be visible in the media, and most assuredly moments to stay quiet no matter the interview topic. However, many organization leaders enact an ongoing policy to shy away from media interviews altogether in fear of getting hit with tough questions, an ill-advised response and the possibility of backlash from their membership, board or consumer audience.Avoiding media interviews may keep your organization in the safe zone, but it can come at the cost of positive brand recognition, industry leadership, an opportunity to showcase your membership’s expertise and the promotion of life-saving medical innovations.With the right preparation, your spokesperson will be ready to maneuver through tough industry questions and shine a light on the work your organization and membership is doing to advance the medical profession. Here are five tips to help you prepare:1. Audit the Reporter & Use Past Stories to Prep
Chances are if a reporter wrote a negative or controversial industry story in the past, there’s a likelihood they will use that knowledge to lead future questioning. As you get ready to prep your spokesperson for an interview, conduct a quick media audit of the reporter and use past stories to create a Q&A with tough questions.2. Prepare Using the Current News Landscape
A reporter wants to know how your organization fits within the larger industry. That said, review the current news cycle and prep your spokesperson for questions about current industry issues even if there isn’t a direct connection to your organization. If and when a question comes up, your spokesperson will be ready to address or pivot to a response that is beneficial for your organization.3. Have a Message Architecture Already in Place
Your spokesperson should already be well-versed in tried, true and approved key messaging that aligns with your organization’s brand. These messages need to be the cornerstone for every interview and should be second-nature for your spokesperson to refer back to no matter the questions they get.4. Scenario Plan with Interview Techniques
It may seem like media training 101, but dig in with your spokesperson on bridging, flagging and deferring interview techniques. Map out key words or phrases that not only shows your spokesperson when they need to pivot, but the technique they should use and the opportunity to showcase positive messages. Create a chart to bring it to life for your spokesperson and use it to practice.5. Make Media Training a Program
Media training is not a one and done. In order to keep these tools fresh in your spokesperson’s mind and be sure he or she handles hot topics effectively, media training needs to be an ongoing occurrence and not something that just happens before your spokespersons next interview.

Reuters covers a study on coffee’s health benefits, Good Morning America features a new study on chronic fatigue, HealthDay jumps on new research about smart phone addiction. With every health impact study that gets the national spotlight, there are thousands more that don’t live much longer than the poster presentation. What are the common denominators of the studies that get the attention of health and medical reporters? That’s an important question for medical association communicators who need to make the call on which studies to promote from their organization’s journal or medical meeting.To answer that question, here are five determinants of “media-healthy” research to help navigate which studies you choose to promote:Note: At least two of the five items listed should be met in the study research.• Large Audience Impact
Is there a large and diverse patient population that will be impacted by the study? Consider whether the study addresses issues that affect many, such as heart attack, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer, heart disease or even chronic fatigue.

This article was originally published in the Chicago Tribune. To view the original post, click here.

Is a campaign really help create positive changes in health habits? When we came across this keynote addressing behavior change strategies, it was great to see that we’ve been reading from the same book on driving healthy change when it comes to developing our client campaigns. Whether we’re encouraging audiences to consider switching to an osteopathic physician for a holistic approach to health, knowing the symptoms to identify a heart arrhythmia or making better decisions to live healthier every day, changes in behavior related to a person’s health come in many different forms.The key to behavior change is to “identify meaningful benefits to the person engaging in the behavior,” stated to Dr. Matthew Kreuter, PhD, MPH, from The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, during his keynote at the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Conference.Dr. Kreuter noted that each of the following elements plays a role in an effective change in behavior, “Promoting behavior change in ways that make it very personally relevant, using authentic stories from credible messengers that stimulate emotion, trying to identify meaningful benefits and meaningful consequences for the behaviors you’re trying to promote…”We use these tactics when collaborating with clients to build health campaigns that target audiences to create a positive change:1. Authentic Stories
For a campaign to be authentic, it needs to have a relatable story that makes sense for the organization and creates a connection with its audience.

This article was originally published in NBC’s Parent Toolkit. To view the original post, click here.

This article was originally published in Inside Philanthropy. To view the original post, click here.

In June, we kicked off, Cause for a Celebration, in honor of BRG’s 15^th anniversary. Through, Cause for a Celebration, BRG team members identified a local nonprofit that is important to them to be eligible to receive a $15,000 donation from BRG.

Placing the Patient at the Epicenter of Communications

We attended the ExL 12^th Annual Public Relations & Communications Summit, which brought together healthcare communicators from across the country. The agenda focused on the need for communications experts to address consumer expectations and engage in a responsible dialogue with patients in order to build disease and product awareness, education and engagement. One main take-away for us was the importance in building an authentic patient dialogue.