It’s human nature to want to feel seen, heard and understood. But in the context of healthcare interactions, the stakes are high, meaning moments of disconnect can threaten patients’ trust and the success of their care journey.
Real Chemistry brings the topic to light with its “Health Dignity Initiative.” The agency defines the term health dignity as “the experience of being seen, heard and taken seriously,” within a healthcare interaction, something that can manifest as “attentive listening, respectful treatment, clear communication and fairness in care delivery.”
"Research consistently shows that people disengage not because they’re unwilling, but because messages and interactions feel rushed, unclear, or disconnected from their lived reality," Real Chemistry's EVP, executive director of inclusive health Jewel Jones Truxon explained in a blog post about the initiative earlier this year. "Designing communications for health dignity means designing for clarity, safety, relevance and respect across every touchpoint—ultimately leading to stronger trust, comprehension, adherence and engagement."
According to Real Chemistry’s health dignity research, which analyzed over 200 million digital sources and surveyed 86 healthcare practitioners plus 232 patients and caregivers, 71% of people report a “dignity-defining” moment in healthcare. Online, there have been over 251,000 mentions of health dignity, with a 132% year-over-year increase in health dignity conversations.
To address this, the Health Dignity Initiative establishes a framework for understanding health dignity and infusing it into practice for healthcare marketers and communications, offering some key signals that play into health dignity.
The “golden rule,” as Real Chemistry says, is treating people the way they want to be treated, as opposed to the standard code of treating others how you’d want to be treated.
“We saw very clearly in the data how important it was for providers and for patients and caregivers to be met where they are,” Jones Truxon said in an interview.
According to 53% of patients surveyed, “taking concerns seriously” is the most important dignity factor, while 39% say that dignity includes listening without rushing. Being rushed, ignored or spoken to using confusing jargon can compound into defining experiences, Real Chemistry explains.
The same can be true in the opposite sense; everyday kindness can accumulate into meaningful takeaways as well. Other important signals are provider constraints and feeling safe as a patient.
Real Chemistry lays out this concept visually in a short video that goes along with the initiative, depicting an everyday doctors’ office visit that doesn’t work out as either the patient or doctor had hoped.
The scene takes place at the end of a woman’s visit with her physician. As the two communicate, on-screen text reveals what each is actually thinking.
“Can you repeat that?” the patient says. “I’m exhausted,” is what she wants to say.
The doctor glances at the clock. “We’re slammed today,” she thinks. “I have other patients waiting.”
Still, the doctor keeps up pleasantries and continues to guide the patient through her blood test results. As the patient attempts to vocalize symptoms she’s experiencing, the doctor runs through a list of common causes, thinking it best not to speculate and worry the patient.
“I should reassure her. I don’t want her to worry,” the doctor thinks. Meanwhile, the patient knows what she’s experiencing isn’t normal. “Please care,” she thinks.
The doctor wants to help, a thought visually depicted by on-screen text that fills the background: “I want to help you.”
For the patient, all she can think as the doctor talks is “She wants to leave.”
Both the patient and the doctor are visibly distressed after the visit wraps up.
“I wish this conversation had gone differently,” they both think.
Importantly, Real Chemistry emphasizes that these types of negative encounters have real impacts on patient engagement levels. Low levels of health dignity are “strongly associated” with delayed care seeking and negative mental health impacts. Health dignity also serves as a reputational indicator, with potential impacts on credibility and confidence for healthcare organizations, that could shape key perspectives.
“Health dignity, the experience of being seen, heard and taken seriously, shouldn't be solely viewed as like a patient experience issue,” Jones Truxon explained. “We believe that it is a lens and could potentially show that it has implications for treatment initiation, clinical trial participation, reputation and trust, and really understanding how people experience healthcare can help us to identify opportunities much earlier.”
Real Chemistry is “just at the beginning” of the initiative and plans to continue digging into health dignity research. Putting a name to the concept of health dignity, something that has been a “low hum conversation” for years is an important step on its own, Jones Truxon pointed out.
For healthcare marketers, the concept of health dignity is crucial in ensuring messages “actually click” for the right audience, Jones Truxon said. When information gets through to the target audience, often it’s because it is delivered in a way that “truly demonstrates that we understand the audiences that we're trying to reach and engage, and they feel respected,” she said. “They feel their dignity feels honored.”
"Real Chemistry predicts that health dignity is poised to become a defining cornerstone of the patient-HCP experience and the patient journey," Jones Truxon explained in the blog post, noting that leaders who embrace the shift will be "better equipped to strengthen outcomes."