Columbus, OH — Wrapping up your week? Don’t miss all these great finds from our contributors, including a potentially huge break-through in cancer care, a big trend of men as caregivers, intriguing new ad formats, a new take on junk food, and more.
Doctors Take A Long Shot And Inject HIV Into Dying Girl
Bryan Murphy found this story of a clinical trial for patients with no other options, run by doctors trying to do nothing less than cure cancer. These are all patients – and parents – looking for a miracle. The doctors are using the HIV virus to teach the body’s cells to kill cancer – to create “serial killer” cells that literally seek out and destroy cancer cells. Full story.
More men take on caregiver role
Alex Bragg found this interesting study about the increasing number of men taking on caregiving roles and how they approach care differently than women typically have. Almost 40% of people who are taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia are men, up from 19% just 15 years ago (Alzheimer’s Association, the other by the National Alliance for Caregiving). The studies found a lot of contributing factors – from the number of women who have the disease to the changing economy.
As caregivers, men are more likely to busy themselves with the daily details of what has to get done. They’re less multi-taskers and more problem solvers. Full article.
See also: Pew Internet and American Life report on how caregivers rely on digital tools
Kris McGlosson sent us this fantastic use of NFC (near field communications) to get people involved in advertising. The UN World Food Program’s Food Link campaign includes bus shelter ads that let people feed hungry children. Users can tap to pick up virtual food from one bus shelter ad and bring it to the other.
The best thing about this ad is that it doesn’t require an app to use – it works seamlessly with the NFC technology built into smartphones. It’s a technology that’s available in most new Android phones. We’ve got fingers crossed that Apple will soon adopt it, too. Although 70% of smartphones shipped last year were Androids (IDC), marketers still look to iPhone first for experience design. Full article.
78% of uninsured Americans don’t know about health exchanges
In just a few months, 30 million Americans will be eligible to enroll in state health insurance exchanges. The challenge is: They don’t know it. Full article.
Eric Davis has been watching the debate that pits Michael Pollan against Ronald McDonald. His latest find from The Atlantic suggests RM might just win.
Author David Freedman writes that “these roundly demonized companies could do far more for the public’s health in five years than the wholesome-food movement is likely to accomplish in the next 50.” He points to fast food’s access and convenience as major drivers of behavior. Lower calorie, faster foods have a much better chance of saving America than expensive, time-intensive whole foods – especially when those wholesome yummies are wrapped in bacon. Full article.
The Healthcare Hashtag Project
Niah Crockett sent us a link to a project dedicated to making healthcare simple… at least on Twitter. They curate all the homegrown hashtags to make it easier to explore and find the content you need. Trending lists show where the conversation is happening right now. See the project.
Video game aims to help young cancer patients
Sam Cannizzaro has been following the Re-Mission game since its original launch back in 2006. The newest version is a collection of online mini games that follow the treatment process with young people (13-29) and lets them destroy cancer on the screen so that they’re better prepared to fight it in real life.
“Research on the original ‘Re-Mission’ showed that it impacted biology and behavior, primarily by energizing positive motivation circuits in the human brain and giving players a sense of power and control over cancer,” said Dr. Steve Cole, a vice president at HopeLab and professor of medicine at UCLA. “That gave us a whole new recipe for engineering the games in ‘Re-Mission 2’ by harnessing the power of positive motivation circuits in the human brain.” Full article.
Why is it so difficult to talk about what makes us human?
Medium is a new crowd-journalism site, featuring essays and ideas from around the world. One of our favorites starts like this: “It is incredibly difficult to talk about health in America. More than the bureaucratic & litigious difficulty in communication, the psychological and social penalties weigh heavily on those impacted by the reality of our own mortality. Whether a debilitating illness, a catastrophic accident or the too familiar onset of cancer, everyone is impacted by this struggle multiple times in their lifetime. Yet I rarely find those who feel competent, confident and supported throughout these challenging times.” Full story.
This last one is a double-connection for HxP – from one of our favorite contributors, Kathryn Bernish-Fisher, about one of our favorite doctors, Jennifer Dyer, MD, MPH. Here’s a peek at her latest research:
“The decisions most affecting the health and well-being of patients with diabetes are made by the patients themselves. Thus, technologies that target patient empowerment and behavior change are making a large impact on diabetes-related health outcomes. This article highlights a variety of technologies that encourage insulin dosing changes, provide motivation for checking blood glucose, organize blood glucose meter data, and motivate patients to lose weight. It includes discussion of several theories of patient engagement and health behavior change involving consumer-facing patient-centered technologies.” Full abstract.
What are you reading?
Posted by: Leigh Householder
