Dear Neil & HIFA colleagues,
I thought that some of you - especially those with a professional or personal interest in "lifestyle medicine" - might like to read this blog (https://blogs.imperial.ac.uk/the-prevention-lab/2026/08/08/when-does-pre...) from Austen El-Osta, one of the authors of a BMJ Open article: "Legitimacy, trust and readiness for implementing lifestyle medicine in England: a cross-sectional study. " (PDF available here: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/16/6/e118159.full.pdf)
A few quotes (that relate to lifestyle medicine but perhaps are important for other fields too) from the blog which caught my attention:
"Advice from a friend is advice. Advice from an influencer is content. Advice from a clinician may be interpreted as healthcare. "
"...the credibility of an intervention and the credibility of its messenger may be inseparable in the minds of those being asked to act upon it."
"A health system cannot become preventive simply by asking its workforce to talk more about prevention. Prevention needs infrastructure."
"There is also an important warning here for those of us interested in prevention and self-care. If lifestyle medicine becomes available primarily to people who already possess the resources, knowledge, confidence and time required to engage with it, it could reproduce rather than reduce existing inequalities. A credible model of lifestyle medicine must therefore be more than clinically plausible. It must also be accessible, trusted and equitable."
"The future of prevention will not be determined only by what we know can improve health. It will also depend on whether we can build institutions, professions and systems that people believe have the legitimacy to help them act on that knowledge."
Thanks
Julie
HIFA profile: Julie N Reza is a UK-based specialist in communications for biosciences, global health & international development (www.globalbiomedia.co.uk). She predominantly works with NGOs and not-for-profit organisations. Previously she was the senior science editor at TDR, based at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva; prior to this she worked at the Wellcome Trust, UK, leading educational projects on international health topics including trypanosomiasis and trachoma. She has a PhD in immunology and a specialist degree in science communication. She also has several years research and postgraduate teaching experience. She is a member of the HIFA Steering Group and HIFA Social Media Working Group. www.hifa.org/people/steering-group
www.hifa.org/people/social-media naimareza@hotmail.com