The Weber Shandwick Collective Announces Launch of Health Equity Communications Offering

Coinciding with Health Literacy Month, The Weber Shandwick Collective, the strategic communications and consulting network, has announced the launch of its Health Equity offer designed in partnership with the UK’s leading health and care charity, the Patients Association, and Health Equity Advisor, Dr. Tammy Boyce.   

Centred around the design of a strategic planning model, CORE, the partnership aims to improve the impact of health communication efforts by bringing greater depth of insight and understanding of the barriers facing patient communities experiencing economic or social disadvantages. 

 “As a leading global healthcare communications consultancy, we have a responsibility to do more to reach the communities experiencing avoidable and unjust differences in health that can be mitigated through better access and understanding of information,” commented Rachael Pay, President, Health EMEA. 

“The reality is, as healthcare PR professionals we need to challenge our clients to intentionally address the needs of low income and ethnic minority communities and ultimately drive truly inclusive work with impact.”

TWSC Health Equity offer will be integrated across all areas of the health and wellness business in EMEA.  

This overarching initiative incorporates the Collective’s ongoing commitment to maintaining the highest accessibility standards for content through Accessible by Design, TWSC’s first-to-market agency commitment and client offering specifically designed to prioritise accessibility.

In addition, focus will also be placed on health literacy.  It is widely recognised that there is a strong social gradient in the population, with lower levels of health literacy much more common among the socially and economically disadvantaged and those from ethnic communities who are struggling to understand and navigate health information and services.  

TWSC is committed to delivering communications that does not contribute to inadvertently widening health inequalities by developing information and services which do not meet the needs of those people who would benefit most from accessing them.  

“We want to keep driving change and improving the lives of all patients.  This work is really very important to the Patients Association. We need healthcare companies to think harder about who they’re talking to and how they share information. Many people find it hard to get and understand health information.  If we can make this information clearer with resonance, we could make a huge difference to people’s lives. Action on this is one of the biggest things we can do to directly impact health outcomes”, explained Rachel Power, CEO the Patients Association. 

The CORE Model  

Co-designed with patients from low income and ethnic minority communities, the CORE model addresses three key barriers to accessibility and inclusivity in health communications campaigns rooted in language, culture and ability.  Based on four ideals, a simple pragmatic model has emerged to help guide health communicators.  CORE stands for:

• Community: reflective messaging in the right place at the right time
• Offer: meaningful support reflective of the needs of the audience
• Respect: holistic understanding and representation of patient audiences
• Ease:  clear, easily understood messaging and call-to-action

Dr Tammy Boyce, equity advisor to TWSC explained, “Certain patient communities are often incorrectly referred to by the private sector as ‘hard-to-reach’.  Through the design of a simple and pragmatic model the healthcare industry can confidently design patient communication programmes that will help address the needs of those struggling to access and understand information and support. 

I applaud the Patients Association and The Weber Shandwick Collective for the design of CORE and raising the bar on inclusive health communications”. 

The Health Equity offering and its new framework model will further advance women’s health equity, building on The Weber Shandwick Collective’s Women’s Health initiative to shape healthier futures for all women.