Social Media Alternative for Health Communication in Nigeria

In the changing media and health landscapes, health communication requires more ways to improve and sustain new practices for health advocacy. The same way global population is soaring, people are becoming more urbane, and these vicissitudes are accompanied by the need to access new forms of media to meet information needs. This chapter assesses social media relevance as an alternative tool for health communication and clearly established that social media holds an integral locus in the day-to-day activities of the people, the same way it has for health communication. The growing concern is for stakeholders who are government and non-government agencies actors like traditional rulers, faith-based organisations, and international bodies to adopt the use of social media as an alternative for health communication in Nigeria.

Guest editorial: A call for health advocacy to be included as an outcome competency into optometric education programmes

No abstract available.

Reflections on, and responses to, managerial adverse reactions to healthcare advocacy by psychiatrists and trainees

Objective: For psychiatrists and trainees, to reflect upon adverse managerial reactions to healthcare advocacy about patient care and safety, drawing upon examples from general healthcare settings, and to share approaches to addressing these reactions. Conclusions: Psychiatrists and trainees engaging in healthcare advocacy may face adverse responses from healthcare management, with personal and professional consequences. Advocates need to consider counterstrategies to negative actions by management that may include workplace incivility, bullying and harassment. Health advocacy is more effective within a network of peers, patients and the broader community, including medico-political professional organisations, such as the Australian Medical Association, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and Unions. These organisations should advocate openness to doctors highlighting healthcare safety and quality, as well as prevention of workplace bullying.

"Building a More Inclusive Blood System in Canada": A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Workshop to Guide Medical Students to Develop as Health Advocates Through Advancing Health Equity in Blood Product Donation for Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Men

Introduction: Competent and socially responsible physicians require a range of abilities other than medical expertise to effectively meet the healthcare needs of the people they serve, including health advocacy skills. The CanMEDS framework for physician competency outlines that, as Health Advocates, physicians work to determine and understand patient and community needs, speak on behalf of others when required, and support the mobilization of resources to effect change. Although recognized as essential for medical trainees to develop, health advocacy is challenging to teach and assess. Here, we describe the development and evaluation of a workshop to support Canadian medical students to develop as health advocates through advancing health equity in blood product donation for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in Canada. Methods: We developed a workshop for a Canadian medical student audience, "Building a more inclusive blood system in Canada", consisting of an online module followed by a virtual facilitated discussion group. The online module (available at stemcellclub.ca/training) outlined blood and stem cell donation in Canada for gbMSM, starting from the historical policies and the context in which they were first put in place, to today's policies and where future policies may lie (Fig. A). The module also presented content from a national campaign in Canada to engage gbMSM as stem cell donors (stemcellclub.ca/savingliveswithpride). The discussion group supported participants to reflect on donation policies for gbMSM and their consequences, and discuss how medical students can concurrently advocate for gbMSM and patients in need of blood products. A facilitator guide was developed and facilitator training was provided. A pre- and post- test was administered to participants to assess knowledge transfer. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed to evaluate participants' perspectives on the impact of the workshop on their development as health advocates. Results: From 10/2020-7/2021, workshops were hosted at 8 medical schools across Canada. 104 medical students from across Canada participated, of whom 65 (63% response rate) completed a pre- and post- workshop survey. 26 (40%) of survey respondents were male, 22 (34%) identified as LGBTQ+ (10 gay, 9 bisexual, 3 other), and 52% were non-Caucasian (from 9 different ancestral groups). 44 (68%) were in the first and 16 (25%) in second years of medical school. Post-workshop, mean scores on a 6-question stem cell donation knowledge test improved from 33% to 79% (p<0.001, Fig B), and 88% felt the workshop prepared them to discuss blood and stem cell donation for gbMSM with others. 98% strongly agreed/agreed the workshop supported their development as health advocates (Fig C), including the abilities to: advocate for patients beyond the clinical environment (83%); work with patients (88%) or communities and populations (74%) to address and identify determinants of health that affect them and their access to care; respond to the needs of communities or populations by advocating with them for system-level change (83%); improve clinical practice by applying a process of continuous quality improvement to disease prevention and health promotion activities (79%); and contribute to a process to improve the health of a community or population they will serve (90%). 94% felt that the workshop should be incorporated into medical curricula. 39 medical students participated in focus groups to share their perspectives on the workshop. (42% male, 37% LGBTQ+ identified, 76% non-Caucasian; 53% in first year of medical school). Qualitative analysis identified rich examples of participant development as health advocates through their participation in the workshop (Fig D). Conclusion: We present the perspective of a national cohort of medical students in Canada that their participation in a workshop on advancing health equity in blood product donation for gbMSM contributed to their development as health advocates. This workshop is a model for teaching health advocacy to medical students and is relevant to medical educators and curriculum developers. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Health Advocacy and Psycho-body empowerment: An effective Salutogenic Model to fight Burnout syndrome addressed to Health Managers, Health and Social Workers

This study was carried out with the implementation of the ECM Training Course: "Health advocacy and Psycho-corporeal Empowerment 2020", designed by the U.O.C. Quality & Humanisation to fight the burnout of health workers during the pandemic through the strategic use of the “Salotti del Benessere©” method in its online version. This Medical Humanities methodology allows the acquisition of psycho-body awareness in order to encourage, even in emergency situations, the adoption of healthy lifestyles. The whole process takes place in 7 meetings, in which the exploration of the 5 Keys to Well-being (Conscious Breathing, Relaxation, Empowerment, Movement and Emotion) is carried out, supported by a multidisciplinary team. In order to assess the effectiveness of the training course, a battery of tests has been administered. The following research is a pilot study on the method in its online version, with the aim of verifying if it was possible to implement, despite the physical distance, a path of psycho-body empowerment and improvement of interpersonal relationships, in this case among the mental health workers participating to the course. An analysis of the results obtained from the tests shows that this online course led to the acquisition of greater self-awareness for health workers and strengthened those relational aspects that, among other things, encourage the mental health management of the patient/caregiver. These results justify the spread of the course to a wider target.