Archive by Author
Ethically gamified
Posted on 13. Oct, 2011 by NW1er.
Digipharm was a fortnight ago and the Aurora team attended across all three days. Speaking to the team, and reading online, I heard mixed reviews of the meeting. While certain sections of the agenda stood out as exciting, innovative and thought provoking, others were reported to re-tread old ground in quite an uninteresting way. Now [...]
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Social Framework – a smart methodology
Posted on 26. May, 2011 by NW1er.
Social Framework was launched exactly one week ago at GLOBALhealthPR’s first international healthcare social media summit (#IHSMS) in Washington DC. A recording of the live web stream can be viewed here. Social Framework is a culmination of our network’s expertise in, and understanding of, social media for healthcare. It is a methodology for identifying ways to work [...]
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Formulating healthcare social media, internationally
Posted on 09. May, 2011 by NW1er.
“Digital conversation + smart listening = improved health”. It’s a big statement being made by our international network of healthcare communication agencies, GLOBALHealthPR (GHPR). But it’s one of aspiration grounded in understanding. The aspiration is that social media can be used to inform people about their health and empower healthy decision making. The understanding comes [...]
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Today’s paper acknowledges that today’s world is digital
Posted on 09. Feb, 2011 by NW1er.
Waiting for my train at Kentish Town this morning, I had 10 minutes to leisurely peruse The Times. Three news pieces and one feature really jumped out at me as evidence that the world has changed and social media is here to stay. It inspired me to continue to work with my clients to make [...]
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What the Quora?
Posted on 06. Jan, 2011 by NW1er.
I’d subconsciously registered the noise about Quora, a social media platform that has bubbled up into the social media mainstream and aims to be a “a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organised by everyone who uses it”, at the start of the year but wasn’t spurred into investigative action until [...]
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The incurable optimist cuts through to a somewhat desensitised heart
Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by NW1er.
Art is often used in healthcare communications to engage patients and those close to them to about health conditions. Quite often, we humans find it easier to show our emotions in a non-verbal form. Over the last two decades, members of the Aurora team have put exhibitions on at the Serpentine Gallery in London and [...]
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We hate social media
Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by NW1er.
Aurora understands why pharma might hate social media. Our ‘We Hate Social Media’ YouTube campaign launches today and sets out to show how hatred can be overcome and why the mantra of ‘we hate social media’ should be consigned to the bin of old ideas. Aurora wants to help pharma folk find the love for [...]
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This month in Pharmaceutical Marketing
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by NW1er.
The latest issue of Pharmaceutical Marketing (PM) is a social-media bumper-fest. Leading with an inspiring article from Alex Butler at Janssen-Cilag, it also features an enlightening piece from Terry Gault, a diabetes patient who actively engages with social media and discusses the value of community support. Aurora also features, discussing why those in our industry [...]
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Health media materials under the gavel tonight! 06.30 pm, Brown’s, St martin’s Lane. Follow events on Twitter!
Posted on 21. Apr, 2010 by NW1er.
The quality of health media materials provided to journalists are under the gavel in a court-room type drama at Brown’s Court Room tonight from 6.30 pm. Communications consultant and former health editor at The Sun, Jacqui Thornton, is presiding over proceedings as Judge. Experts giving evidence include Jenny Hope, medical correspondent at the Daily Mail, [...]
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Berlin base camp for social media bods!
Posted on 15. Apr, 2010 by NW1er.
Two and a half weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a meeting of minds in Berlin, where those involved with the until-now Twitter-based group, Healthcare Social Media Europe (#hcsmeu), met in person to debate some key issues relating to social media and healthcare. I’ve been busily scribbling down the insights on this for [...]
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Be brave
Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by NW1er.
I was travelling down to south London at the weekend (weird, I know) and found myself absorbing the tube advertising, which I typically rarely see because I cycle to work. Walking along in my semi dazed state, I was struck by the word ‘coochie’, which appeared in a giant purple font. Not believing my eyes, [...]
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The Brain Game
Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by NW1er.
Writing this month’s Aurora top 20 got me thinking about mental health issues and how this is managed in the UK. A range of opinions and challenges exist in this area, making it a complicated one for all involved. Below I explore the topic in some more depth. Prevalence and approach In the year 2000 [...]
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Is Fox Mulder right? Should we trust no one?
Posted on 12. May, 2009 by NW1er.
In the final episodes of season 9 of the X Files, the cynical and sardonic FBI agent Fox Mulder is being tried by an unbalanced military jury that has a short-sighted view of societal well-being. The fictitious jury, and those people it serves, believe that it is often best to keep information from the public, [...]
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Undue ‘switch bashing’ or a genuine concern?
Posted on 06. May, 2009 by NW1er.
It’s no surprise that mystery shopping journalists from publications such as the Sunday Telegraph and Daily Star Sunday have donned their anoraks with the launch of Alli and set forth to test pharmacies – the same was true when simvastatin 10 mg switched. I don’t object to this type of investigative journalism, because if something [...]
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Not just another internal newsletter!
Posted on 16. Apr, 2009 by NW1er.
2009 is stacking up to be an intriguing year for industry – times are changing and there are certainly challenges ahead. Yet there is much to be positive about, and we have been working with our clients to help communicate this to internal audiences. Two examples are of note: assisting one client with getting company-wide [...]
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Turning point for talking therapy
Posted on 09. Mar, 2009 by NW1er.
This weekend, The Observer carried news relating to a Department of Health announcement to deliver a ‘package of measures’ to help unemployed people experiencing depression/anxiety get back to work. At its core, the recommendation focuses on increasing access to talking therapies so that unemployed people with depression can address mental health issues and subsequently be [...]
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Sex, sight and sound
Posted on 24. Feb, 2009 by NW1er.
I couldn’t sleep last night so was fiddling with my Blackberry in bed – sad, I know. I came across the iGoogle function, which allows you to have a personalised news stream to your Blackberry. Great, because you only get three or so main news stories on the BBC mobile site. iGoogle feeds the top [...]
