Sohaila Cheema, MBBS, MPH, CPH, Dip IBLM
ABSTRACT
Leveraging Digital Tools for Health Communication and Promotion
Ms. Rajalakshmi Anand
Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q)
Dr. Sohaila Cheema
Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q)
Globally, one-third of the world’s population has difficulty searching, comprehending, evaluating, and using information that they need to maintain optimum health and well-being. Empowering people to learn and practice healthy behaviors and engage in self-care is at the core of health promotion. The importance of this is substantially increased during crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Appropriate health communication also continues to be vital during the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the pandemic can be alleviated by promoting health behavior change, disease management and communicating policies and processes by using appropriate tools to publicize information in language easily understood by the public.
Electronic mail (email) is a powerful tool to engage with various audiences using electronic devices. Worldwide 3.9 billion people use email, spending up to five hours daily to check work and personal emails. Emails are cost effective and directly connect the intended audience with personalized content. Embedding useful links and eye-catching visuals attract consumers to read and learn from the content. Health communication emails should provide information in simple language; use appealing and culturally appropriate visuals; and communicate new or updated evidence and information as necessary. The Institute for Population Health, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar disseminates credible information to create awareness about COVID-19 and health-related topics by various mechanisms. An example is the ‘Stay Safe, Stay Healthy’ newsletters. The newsletters are focused on topics relevant to COVID-19, health, and well-being. The content guides the public to navigate, and access trusted and reputable sources for helpful tips to manage and adapt their lifestyles for optimum health and well-being. The newsletters are created inhouse using a digital tool called ‘Mailchimp’. Mailchimp is convenient to use with several in-built templates, allowing the creation of visually appealing content with the option to add unique links or hyperlinks as required. Mailchimp also hosts the audience database, manages audience preferences, and facilitates scheduling and sending the newsletters. The ‘Stay Safe, Stay Healthy’ newsletter email campaigns have garnered 111,789 opens (total number of times the campaign was opened by recipients) and 28,507 clicks (total number of times any tracked link was clicked) since its initiation in March 2020.
Reliable, evidence-based, and well-crafted health communication can facilitate behavior change, dispel fear and uncertainty, promote compliance with positive health behaviors, and disseminate reliable and succinct information. It can also help alleviate stress and feelings of ‘overwhelm’ when confronted with ‘information overload’ online. Communities can substantially benefit as custom-tailored information is delivered directly to the intended audience. Most digital tools such as MailChimp are accessible via a paid subscription. Subscription fees could be a deterrent to their use. Nevertheless, digital tools like MailChimp are an effective tool to optimize emails and can contribute to health promotion by facilitating the dissemination of health-related information via email, in a timely, efficient, and effective manner.
BIO
Sohaila Cheema, MBBS, MPH, CPH, Dip IBLM
Associate Professor of Clinical Population Health Sciences
Assistant Dean, Institute for Population Health
Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
Doha, Qatar
Dr. Sohaila Cheema is the Assistant Dean for the Institute for Population Health (IPH) and Associate Professor of Clinical Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q). She actively participates in oversight and implementation of IPH education, research, and community programs and has helped build the IPH into a regionally recognized center of excellence. Committed to improving population health, Dr Cheema takes pride in teaching public health and related disciplines to the premedical and medical students, and to the residents in community medicine. She also co-directs the pre-medical course, Health and Disease: A Global Perspective, and serves as the Associate Director for the Health Care and Public Health Clerkship.
Dr. Cheema serves as faculty and course-director for several continuous professional development/continuous medical education activities for building capacity in healthcare professionals, notably the Certificate in Lifestyle Medicine and Understanding Basics of Health Research. She is co-founder of the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group-Qatar and collaborates with private and government institutions to promote health awareness, disease prevention, and self-care in Qatar and the region. She serves or has served on many Qatar government/medical school committees. Her research interests are multidisciplinary and include the non-communicable disease paradigm, migrant health, road traffic crashes and injuries, lifestyle medicine, public health aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and contemporary issues in healthcare and population health.
Dr. Cheema received her medical degree from Dow Medical College, Pakistan and completed her Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona. She received her Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners, USA. She is a diplomate of the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine and is a certified lifestyle medicine physician.