Yesterday I posted on the story of Toronto Public Health tweeting a call for its followers to voice concerns to the TV show “The View” about the recent hiring of Jenny McCarthy, a prominent anti-vaccination advocate, as its new co-host. Today, Nicole Ghanie-Opondo reflects more deeply on what kind of impact such tweeting really has […]
Attack on Anti-vac – Toronto Public Health vs. Jenny McCarthy Read More »
If a health scare manifested itself in the world and there were no journalists to cover the story, what would the impact on the public be? That is a question that lingered with me throughout the start of the 2013 Ontario Public Health Convention (TOPHC) which began with a morning dedicated to improving public health communication. Opening up
The Importance of Journalism to Public Health: 10 Years After SARS How Are We Doing? Read More »
Journalists occupy an important, yet often unacknowledged, role in the health system by providing a dispassionate account of the system’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to the public. It is through journalists that much of the research we scientists and practitioners produce gets communicated to the audiences likely to use them. This fourth estate is also
The Fourth Estate of Health and Medicine Read More »
Earlier this week I has the pleasure of attending talks from Bryan Boyer from the Helsinki Design Lab and learning about the remarkable work they are doing in applying design to government and community life in Finland. While the focus of the audience for the talks was on their application of design thinking, I found myself
Evaluating Social Innovation For Social Impact Read More »
Human service providers live in paradox by stressing best practices while wishing for some recognition of the unique qualities that they bring. Can being unique be the standard we need?
Standing Out / Outstanding: The Standards Problem Read More »
In the social media and marketing world there is a concept called “brand democratization”, which refers to the notion of having your customers contribute to and partly shape a brand’s identity. Marty Neumeier, who has written extensively on branding, asserts that a brand isn’t what the producers of the product say it is, but rather
Evidence Democratization in Complex Systems Read More »
Complexity science provides many tempting explanations for human behaviour, but often based on rhetoric rather than evidence. If the a social science of complexity is to move ahead, more attention to the science than theory is necessary.
(Not) Following the Rules in Complex Social Systems Read More »
