#032 · 01 December 2024

Happy Sunday POPhealth readers,

I have no idea how writing will go today. I feel the need to type, but I’m also dealing with two very overstimulated boys, alone. This might turn out to be quite a fail.

How have you been? How’s the end of your Q4? Is it a bit like this:

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I’ve been keeping my head down recently. The temperature has finally dropped. The mainstream marketing industry chat is mind-numbingly relentless: Christmas ads earlier than ever, everyone p*ssing their pants over Jaguar’s rebrand and Coca-Cola’s AI ad. And, December’s calendar is looking intense, both professionally and socially. So, for me, it’s SAD lamp on, hot water bottle on refill, shameless slippers with socks… and copious amounts of cheese on all occasions that I do not need to leave the house. Including today.

Cosycore mode is activated. I’ve allowed a pyjama day. So grab yourself a cuppa and let’s dive in.

Trend Alert

The Hot New Job for Men: Nursing

I read a super interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal this weekend on the growing number of male registered nurses in the US. It covers the changing landscape for male-dominant roles like engineering, where many jobs are either being outsourced overseas, replaced by automated systems or just being phased out of the US economy. As a result, occupations that would traditionally be seen as female-centred roles are gaining a larger share of male recruits.

The article goes on to highlight the stereotypes that are, sadly, still very real - like patients assuming the man is the physician when you have a female doctor, with a male nurse in the room.

As marketers in healthcare, we certainly play a role in helping shift these stereotypes and highlighting the diverse workforce of the sector. But this shouldn’t just fall to the visuals used when representing nurses in our materials and campaigns, or the people we choose to head up our expert panels. Instead, it’s about portraying a different side to masculinity. The men who choose to go into nursing do so because they are embracing roles that need empathy, compassion and care. These qualities are often overlooked in conversations about what it means to be a man. These men are not only transforming the labour market of healthcare but contributing to a broader cultural shift, one that values emotional intelligence and vulnerability as strengths.

Surely healthcare is the perfect vehicle to begin changing those perceptions?

I’m not usually one to overshare the content and campaigns coming out of VCCP, however, our recent working with telecommunications company O2, is well worth a look, as it’s a great application of AI for good. Meet Daisy, a telephone scammer's worst nightmare.

Blink and you’ll miss ‘em

Flo’s latest campaign for perimenopause

Now, I feel like the “tiny billboard” thing is a bit overdone, and not exactly a groundbreaking concept in media activations these days. That said, I do think this was the perfect fit for Flo’s latest awareness campaign for perimenopause.

According to Flo’s campaign, in a recent survey, more than half said they don’t feel adequately informed about perimenopause, its potential symptoms, or its effects on their health. It is another area of women+ health that is underresearched, misunderstood and misrepresented in society.

These little billboards were a great device to activate their campaign acronym H.E.A.T - which gives airtime to the often unnoticed signs of perimenopause, such as Heavy or light periods, Energy dips & insomnia, Altered moods and Timing & irregularities to your period.

In response, Flo has now introduced perimenopause support and tracking in its app. The number of resources and variety of content available is already brilliant (my POV as a 40+ user of the app), from spotting the signs and 101s on the individual symptoms to voice notes from real people about their experiences.

Flo continues to move conversations forward in women+ health, and this won’t be the last time I’ll be writing about this company, it really is one to aspire to for step changes in healthcare comms.

Sticking with female health tech, I loved the string of employer partnerships being announced on Hertility’s LinkedIn account. From Warner Music to ASOS, it’s so awesome to see proactive and preventive hormonal health making a mark on the employees' benefits roster.

Prescribing a dose of controversy

Dr. Oz is appointed to Trump's cabinet

I was in two minds about whether to talk about Dr. Oz or not… The process may be too stressful. But it’s an important conversation in culture and health right now. And I think we all know this new Trump presidency is going to smack a little different hard.

So, let me rewind - for those of you who have no idea who I’m talking about - Dr. Mehmet Oz is an American TV doctor with a controversial track record for promoting health misinformation and has been wrapped up in a diet pill scandal and a supporter of use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.

And now, Trump has announced that he’s nominating Dr. Oz to head up the centres for Medicare and Medicaid. Whilst Trump hasn’t offered much in the way of specifics on health-care policy, this likely signals a shift towards a private-sector approach which begs the question: will cost-cutting be prioritised over patient care?

Right now, this is one to stay informed on. B ut as a sector, perhaps now more than ever, we need to continue to educate patients on recognising misinformation, how to fact check. Afterall it’s their health outcomes that are at risk. 

My kid asked me what actually happens to poo when you flush the toilet on a plane… after seeing it ejected midflight in a cartoon. He was very disappointed to find out it just goes into a tank at the back of the plane, ready to be emptied when it lands. I however, was super delighted to find out that the Conversation has ‘Curious Kids’ articles, which I will 100% use again and again with the boys. If you have children, this is a great resource.

OK, I’m gonna wrap it up here. I think a night infront of the TV with a Christmas movie is the one - who else loves a trashy Christmas film? The Family Stone gets my vote tonight. 

On Christmas, this might well be the last issue before the new year. Listening to Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour on the radio earlier today, he said: If Christmas is streessing you out, cross something off your list. I think that’s pretty solid advice. And I’m gonna take it. So should you POPhealth readers.

If I don’t write to you before, happy holidays to you all. And as always, I really appreciate your support in reading and passing on these little nuggets I share.

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Until 2025 (maybe)

EML ✌️