There are areas where one only enters if one is highly specialised in that content, or at least one should not (financial information, for example). However, there are other subjects on which one feels authorised to speak, even in public, even if they are highly sensitive subjects, just because they affect us all. This is the case with Health. As we all get sick, anyone feels qualified to recommend a diet, a medication, tell you what is really wrong with you, give an opinion on vaccines or write lightly on subjects that may trigger social alarm or arouse unfounded expectations in patients whose health hangs in the balance.
Both journalists who write about health, and those of us who manage this content to design strategies that help it reach other health professionals and/or researchers, or the public in general, in an appropriate and rigorous way, need this specialisation.
The situation of the media has gradually led to the disappearance of health supplements, which were backed by large firms, with weight in scientific and medical communication, ... there are hardly a few left. These firms have also been disappearing: some have retired, others have had to devote themselves to other tasks, ... and increasingly we find editors who are working on a sensitive subject for the first time.
We have all had to learn and we have all made mistakes along the way, but there is a generation of communicators who have had the privilege of being trained, inspired and learning from the big names, who were a guarantee of security for the reader and who made those pages interesting.
In the absence of training, the institution, corporation or entity that is looking for a reference in communication to design the strategy, help them build reputation and support them in the management of both, must rely on people with sufficient experience to be able to adapt quickly to different environments, projects and needs. This is provided by the seniority, both at the head of the areas, in this case Health, Pharma and Medical Technology, and in the teams that make up these areas.
In this way, excellent communication can be ensured within the framework of a strategy that contemplates all possible scenarios and has the confidence of the key people in the media to channel its contents with rigour and efficiency.
*Dolors Marco is director of the Health, Pharma and Medical Technology division at PROA.