Lessons From COVID-19: Improving Health Behavior and Reducing Disparities
Authored by Amy Gómez, PhD; Destry Sulkes, MD
The piece you’re about to read is from Klick Health’s Life (Sciences) After COVID-19 series, a collection of expert perspectives designed to inform and inspire the life sciences community for the coming changes and opportunities we anticipate as a result of this global health crisis.
The Insight
Society’s collective shock from the pandemic has put intense urgency on learning about the virus and how to deal with it. As a result, societal health awareness is rising broadly—specifically around the risks of common COVID-19 comorbidities, like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, and immune disorders. Much of this awareness is fueled by outrage over the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on communities of color. People are also much more informed about COVID-19 lab testing and how it can save lives.
This newfound awareness is not only changing behaviors around COVID-19 now, but will likely lead to ripple effects across other health conditions in the future. Life sciences leaders can leverage this health awareness momentum, convert it into health literacy, and direct it towards improvements in health behaviors and better outcomes in many other conditions, starting with COVID-19 comorbidities. Thoughtful planning and nuanced communications are required to meet the unique needs and barriers of the Black and Latino communities.
Life sciences leaders can leverage this health awareness momentum, convert it into health literacy, and direct it towards improvements in health behaviors and better outcomes in many other conditions, starting with COVID-19 comorbidities.
The Evidence
When increased health awareness leads to increased health literacy, we see a corresponding increase in effective disease self-care, more appropriate use of health services like lab testing, and more adherence to recommended prevention behaviors like vaccination.
So what is “health literacy” exactly? As defined in the US Dept of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020, it is “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.”
Hence there are three stages in the process to achieve literacy: first is to obtain health information, next is to process it, and third is to understand it. In the current environment, with non-stop COVID-19 media, most people are certainly obtaining information, but there are likely major gaps across how the information is processed, and ultimately how it is understood. And of course, different sources of information have differing levels of accuracy. For example, in March rapper and reality TV star Waka Flocka Flame famously said on a popular Los Angeles radio program that minorities can’t get COVID-19, and ever since both health officials and Black celebrities have been fighting that incorrect and dangerous piece of ‘information’. Post-pandemic, there will be some populations gaining significant health literacy, some with just a little increase, and some who will stay at the same level, or potentially even regress due to misinformation.
Before COVID-19, much of the research on health literacy focused on the channels where informational resources are delivered (to facilitate wider obtaining), design of the resources (to facilitate better processing), and the importance of cultural relevance (to facilitate better understanding across the full breadth of society). Now, however, we might also consider how the effects of a newfound urgency and awareness, combined with the fear of what might happen if one doesn’t take immediate action, might impact all three steps.
Lessons From COVID-19: Improving Health Behavior and Reducing Disparities
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Authors
Amy Gómez, PhD
SVP, Diversity Strategy
Amy Gómez, a leader in cross-cultural marketing and a health-equity advocate, brings over 20 years of experience creating impactful communications for diverse US segments and developing global cross-cultural strategies. At Klick, she leads Cross-Cultural Strategy and Marketing, and drives Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. An adjunct professor at CUNY, Amy holds advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford, and is multilingual. She has been recognized for her contributions, receiving many awards, including the PM360 ELITE Transformational Leader and the Clio Health Innovator.
Destry Sulkes, MD
General Partner
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