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The pandemic has caused a dramatic rise in the use of online therapy. This includes some therapy apps that don’t use actual human therapists at all. At first, chatbot therapy may seem unlikely to be very effective. After all, as intelligent as AI can become, it will probably never understand the complex subtleties of language, let alone human emotions and mental health. And yet, therapy with a chatbot may have some benefits. One of the most obvious advantages to chatbot thera

In a recent article, creative strategist Emily Gorey points out a notable shift in marketing - at least when it comes to ads targeted to younger consumers: a “demand” for absurdity. On TikTok, Gorey observes, successful ad campaigns often call on absurd premises to get noticed. One example is language learning site Duolingo, whose posts frequently play on the idea that its owl mascot will do terrible things to learners who don’t keep up with their lessons. The concept might s

We’re at the start of a new year…but are unfortunately still facing the same big problem. The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, with the omicron variant an uninvited guest at many end-of-year holiday celebrations. And yet, what I just wrote shows that there has been at least one major change as far as the pandemic goes. This time last year, COVID-19 variants were usually named based on the place where they had first been reported (i.e. the UK variant). This led to a number of ser

Telehealth has become a part of many healthcare providers’ and patients’ lives. In fact, a recent survey reveals that 65% of patients in the US have used telehealth at some point in the past two years. 34% expect to continue to do so. But while telehealth is on the rise, there are a lot of improvements to be made. Here are some telehealth-related New Year’s resolutions that healthcare providers should consider making: 1. Offer telehealth options. Let’s start with an essentia

Health-related headlines this year - as well as headlines in just about any subject area, for that matter - continued to be dominated by COVID-19. This means that some unrelated major medical breakthroughs didn’t get a lot of time of the spotlight. ‘Tis the season to spread cheer, and so this week, let’s look at five mostly overlooked medical breakthroughs of 2021. 1. A new way to detect more than 50 kinds of cancer In 2021, the Galleri Test, sometimes called a “liquid biopsy

Medical illustrations can be found anywhere from textbooks to patient education material. These images provide an easy way for medical experts and laypersons alike to recognize and understand things like symptoms, biological processes, anatomy, and more. Still, important as they are, they rarely make waves, especially outside the medical community. But one medical illustration recently caught the eye of Twitter users. Created and posted by Nigerian medical student and illustr

Earlier this month, urogynecologist Ryan Stewart tweeted that he was remodeling his office and asked women how they would “design/optimize a visit to the gynecologist’s office”, adding “no detail is too small.” To the surprise of probably no one who’s ever had to go to the gynecologist, Dr. Stewart was quickly inundated with replies - more than 3000 as of this writing. Requests and suggestions ran the gamut, from better representation, to office color choices, to exam pro

It’s amazing to think that in a relatively short time, HIV has gone from a death sentence, to a manageable health condition. But World AIDS Day, commemorated every December 1, is just as important today as it has been since its inception in the late ‘80’s. 1.5 million new HIV cases and 680,000 deaths worldwide in 2020 alone show that the fight isn’t over. But HIV awareness’s focus has shifted. HIV is now a manageable disease - but this is under ideal circumstances.There are

What’s your resting heart rate? How many steps did you walk today? A few years ago, questions like these might have been difficult or even impossible to answer for the layperson. But nowadays, smartwatches and other monitoring devices let us monitor these things and much more, including certain symptoms and aspects of chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. While there are still limits to what smartwatches and their ilk can do, the future seems pretty pro

Until recently, if a patient in the US didn’t speak English and didn’t have access to on-site interpreters at a healthcare facility, there wasn’t a simple, standard solution. Fortunately, nowadays, technological advances, combined with a dramatically increased need for remote communications during the COVID-19 pandemic mean that healthcare providers and patients can easily access a medical interpreter via phone or video. What a time to be alive! ….But as a new article in The

In 2010, the US government passed the Plain Writing Act, which requires federal communications to be written in the clearest language possible, as opposed to jargon, legalese, or obscure vocabulary. As anyone who’s turned in a paper at school probably knows, English-speakers are often encouraged, implicitly or more subtly, to use big words and flowery language when discussing important matters. This has been so drilled into us that the Center for Plain Language is still monit

One of the many steps involved in selling a medical device internationally is what’s known as in-country review (ICR) -- the process of having translated material reviewed for accuracy in language, localization, and brand communication. ICR seems like a completely reasonable step, but even a cursory internet search will show that it’s a source of frustration for many companies. A major reason for this is that companies often use internal employees to review their translat

What’s the most annoying thing about going to the doctor’s office? For many of us, it’s all the time spent in the waiting room. But there’s good news: Soon, long waits at the doctor’s may become a thing of the past. Telehealth has changed a lot about healthcare. In a fascinating interview, Dr. David Berg, co-founder and chairman of the board of Redirect Health, mentions how it’s impacted one aspect of doctor’s visits you might not expect: real-life waiting rooms. Berg explain

AI has become an increasingly helpful part of some aspects of medicine - for instance, some programs help with things like scheduling and billing. So why not also with translating standard documents like patient consent forms? As advanced as some translation AI is, we’re not there yet. To be absolutely certain that a patient understands and consents to treatment, healthcare providers have to clearly explain the treatment to patients and be able to answer any questions, as we

Buzzwords are concise, often catchy terms that sum up what’s on our mind. They’re especially important in healthcare, where they can help patients express complex feelings and issues and find others who might be going through the same thing. A recent article from online health community portal Health Union looks at five buzzwords used by people with chronic health conditions. These words offer important insight into the patient experience. For instance, “scanxiety” is a term