Google's celebration of Jonas Salk makes a timely point

Google Doodles are well-known for hot political and social issues. A couple of years ago, their July 4th homepage was all about internet freedom. During the Sochi Winter Games, they doodled their defiance of Russia's anti-gay laws.

Today, they ran a comic that celebrates the 100th birthday of Jonas Salk, father of the polio vaccine.

So, what's controversial about that?

When my mom was a kid, polio was one of the biggest fears of every parent and child. One of her best friends, and next door neighbour, caught the disease. The disease could cause paralysis, sometimes permanently, and could result in being confined to an iron lung. In the worst cases, people died. Neil Young is among many celebrity survivors.

Although the disease is making a comeback in some parts of the world, polio is one of those diseases, like smallpox, measles, diphtheria and pertussis, that were no longer considered common threats to childhood health by the time I was growing up. And that was thanks to vaccines and public immunization programmes.

But the "anti-vax" movement, a loose conglomeration of people who have religious, pseudoscientific, or other non-medical objections to vaccines, has been gaining steam. No thanks to celebrity non-scientists like Jenny McCarthy, preventable outbreaks of things like measles are on the rise.

Dr. Salk, by the way, is also celebrated for his selflessness. He forfeited billions of dollars by refusing to patent the polio vaccine.

Now that another flu season is on its way, the push is on to vaccinate as many people as possible against it. Each year, approximately 3,500 Canadians die from the flu. But the flu shot can prevent up to 80% of flu infections in healthy individuals.

While we're waiting for that ebola vaccine, maybe it would be a good idea to get vaccinated against a disease that is statistically more likely to hospitalize or kill you. And say a silent thanks to Dr. Salk and all the other scientists who have made modern life much less scary.

Thanks to David for pointing me to this nice bit of public health advocacy.

Sleep apnea product company "brings the sexy back"

It's either that, or a weird new fetish.

From easybreathe.com:

Since when has CPAP [Continuous Positive Airway Pressure] been perceived as not sexy?  Sleep apnea is what is not sexy.   Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that can have damaging effects such as pregnancy complications, glaucoma, and motor vehicle accidents due to improper sleep. Well, as Justin Timberlake says, “It’s time to bring Sexy Back.”  What is sexy is something that combats sleep apnea…  Meet the CPAP.  The CPAP is the heavyweight champ in fighting sleep apnea and if you don’t think that’s sexy enough, CPAP therapy has also proven to make you appear more physically attractive and – gentlemen – CPAP therapy will improve erectile dysfunction.  How is that for sex appeal?!  Without further ado, here are the top 10 sexiest CPAP wearing people.

What follows is a series of poorly-photoshopped stock photos of "sexy" men and women wearing CPAP apparatus, along with every sexist cliché in the book.

 The Ultimate Surfer Chick…  Crushing Waves and Hearts! 

Surfs up, dudes! Here we have what’s known to all guys as a “major babe”.  She doesn’t care about what she eats, how much she drinks, or what her reputation is.  She’s a surfer chick without a care in the world.  Drink all day, party all night and be up early in the morning hangin’ ten on some choice waves in the ‘Bu.  She aspires to be a pro surfer and travel the globe but if she doesn’t go pro she’ll settle for modeling in Pac Sun catalogs.  Free clothes!  Cowabunga!  If this aqua-marine gem sleeps at all she probably wears the Ultra Mirage Full Face Mask because she wants that optimal seal so she can be tubular on the waves on the flip side.

It's so dumb that it actually fooled Photoshop Disasters. I guess they failed to actually read this stuff:

The Couple that Wear CPAPs Together (on the beach) Stay Together 

What a fun day these two are having on the beach! Nothing but sunshine and smiles surround these two beautiful people. Looking at this picture, you can just feel the abundant love and affection these two share for each other. There’s nothing anyone could do to distract these two lovebirds from enjoying the beautiful day. After they have a picnic and watch the sun set over the ocean, they’ll walk home holding hands only to slip on their Quattro FX and Quattro FX for Her, Mask Systems later that night. Have you ever experienced the sensation of a mutual Quattro FX goodnight kiss?  Neither have I, but I bet it’s nothing short of true bliss…

Really weird stuff. But at least it's not a snore. Read the rest here.

Want to have a beer with the POTUS? This is your chance...

The image above just appeared in my G+ feed:

Is it just me, or does the picture of President Obama hanging out with frat boys look like it was photoshopped by The Onion?

The appeal links to a page on the President's site where you can pledge to "help get the word out about getting covered" and "be automatically entered for the chance to fly in to meet President Obama backstage in Washington, D.C."

I suppose it's an attempt to show President Obama as approachable, but the way he towers over the slobbish, beaming, and seemingly-drunk male youths — beer in hand — is rather bizarre.

This isn't the first time that images used in the promotion of the Affordable Care Act have left people scratching their heads. Remember the reaction to Adriana, who wasn't actually enrolled in the ACA? Remember “Pajama Boy”? Or "Out2Enroll"?

Can you shame people out of using the ER as a walk-in clinic?

In a public healthcare system, one of the biggest drains on resources is the people who come to Emergency for problems that should be addressed by family doctors, clinics, or even telephone health advisors.

More urgently, the long wait-times that result can actually prevent the people who desperately need treatment from getting it in time. At least, that's what this PSA from the UK National Health Service in Suffolk wants you to know:



It's not exactly a subtle message. And if you read this blog (or my posts on Osocio) regularly, you know I'm not a fan of guilt and shame as social motivators.

I don't like the ad. But in this particular case, I think it could actually work. The difference is that the "ask" of this PSA is actually pretty simple: to call the NHS telephone health line first.

Who wouldn't prefer to avoid a trip to the ER waiting room, where non-emergency cases get triaged into several-hours-long waits among the sick and injured? I just wish that the message had been that, instead of using a dead child as worst case scenario.

Thanks to Bury Free Press (from my ancestral homeland, BTW) for the tip.

How many more kinds of wrong can these anti-Obamacare ads be?

Making light of rape. Misleading the public. Abusing a poor old national symbol.

This campaign by Koch Bros. stooges at Generation Opportunity has it all:





All this to try to scare college students out of getting affordable health insurance.

Fortunately, young people tend to see through this kind of advertising. They'll remember it, but only to make fun of it (and of those behind it).

But still... WTF?!?

Tip via Think Progress

Postscript: I like Jezebel's take better — "Ironic as Hell GOP Ad Says The Government Should Stay Out Of Your Vag"

Ontario healthcare recruitment ad hints at a Quebec "values" brain drain to come

This ad was Tweeted by @sarahleavitt and others. I can't seem to find it on any of Lakeridge Health's web or social channels, so I don't know whether it predates yesterday's news from Quebec, or if it's a coincidence, or even if it is a real client ad.

What the ad is, however, is a wake-up call to Quebec's provincial government, who yesterday introduced a "Charter of Values" that would prohibit the wearing of "overt religious symbols" in public workplaces, or even when doing business with the public sector. Bizarrely, while hijabs, turbans, kipas and comically-large crosses are explicitly banned by the decree of enforced secularism, existing Christian symbols in prominent places like Quebec's legislature and the provincial flag get to stay because of "historical patrimony".

Montreal Gazette

In Quebec, as in all of Canada, public education, including universities and colleges, and hospitals are provincial responsibilities. The Charter apparently will include a five-year exemption clause for municipalities, hospitals and postsecondary institutions that wish to allow their employees to continue wearing religious symbols on the job. But the xenophobic nature of the Charter is clear to targeted groups.

"We're not asking for time to conform. We're very resolute in the fact that the charter is just wrong," Glenn Nashen, Director of Public Affairs at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, told the Montreal Gazette. (And speaking of "historical patrimony," Jewish Montrealers have been part of Quebec culture since the mid-1700s.)

Which brings us back to the ad, above. Having done professional recruitment for hospitals myself, I know that there is an HR crisis. The competition for nurses, doctors, technologists and others is fierce, with employers often aggressively recruiting in other cities, provinces, and even countries. In an increasingly multicultural Canada, many of the healthcare professionals we come in contact with are new Canadians whose cultures include these types of religious attire — for example, Islam is Canada's fastest-growing religion.

Quebec already has long had problems keeping its healthcare workforce, because of lower compensation and language law issues. Will the new "values" take the brain drain to the next level?

From The National Post:

Dr. Sanjeet Singh Saluja, who wears a turban as part of his faith, said Wednesday that the PQ’s controversial “Charter of Quebec Values” would drive people from the Sikh, Jewish and Muslim communities away. 

“The sad thing is I don’t know if I’d be able to stay here in Quebec,” said Saluja, an emergency-room doctor with the McGill University Health Centre. 

“Even though I love my practice here in Quebec, my faith is something that’s important to me and I don’t feel comfortable giving up that part of my persona and I don’t think a lot of people would be willing to, either.”

While it might seem opportunistic for "Rest Of Canada" hospitals to use the Charter's presumed racism as an edge in poaching candidates, can we blame them?

While analysts say that the Charter is unlikely to pass, the message to people who publicly practice non-Christian religions is clear: Give it up, or move on.

UPDATE: It's real!

Want to be part of a leading hospital focused on quality and safety? We want you. Check out our new ad: pic.twitter.com/0Od8NS2OxI
— Lakeridge Health (@LakeridgeHealth) September 12, 2013

Oh, nursing professionals will **love** this one

All ads via Ads of The World

I've worked with our national nurses' association, as well as done tons of healthcare branding, advertising and recruitment. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that nurses absolutely hate this shit. 

Not only is the "sexy nurse" stereotype (who is always female) damaging to the dignity of all women, it is particularly insulting to a professional cadre who are universally loved for caring for us at some of our lowest ebbs. As one nurse once told me, "the first person and the last person who will touch you when you are alive, will probably be a nurse.

Don't you think she (or he) deserves better than this?

The campaign is for a disposable syringe company, claiming that re-use of syringes (gross) is the #2 spreader of HIV. I usually think of this in back-alley smack terms, but I suppose its possible that Indian hospitals sterilize and reuse glass ones. But is this a stretch in correlation? 

Ask DDB.

It's written all over your face

Dolex is the name under which Panadol pain and cold symptom relief drugs are marketed in Columbia. This attention-getting (but seriously unnerving) campaign is one of those ones that tells people that they look like shit when they're sick.

They'd be better off staying home and away from other people, but anyway...

Add caption

"Sore Throat"

"Watery Eyes"

"Stuffy Nose"

Ads by REP/GREY Worldwide, Colombia
Via AOTW

Adopt socialized healthcare, America. It's just what them Chinamen want!

Sorry for the slur in the headline, but how else would you describe the key message of this political ad?



Mother Jones posted this ad by"Citizens Against Government Waste" whose mission is to "eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government." This includes ongoing lobbying against "Obamacare".

Calling for political debate is one thing. But race-baiting right with Americans with fears of a Chinese planet is uncalled for. Besides which, it was the decidedly non-socialist Nixon who opened the gates to trade with China to begin with.

The best (and by that I mean "most appalling") part of the video is when the menacing professor shows the lecture hall full of Communist automatons what evil geniuses them Chinese really is. I was almost expecting an "ah-so"...

He would, however, make an awesome Bond villain.

Impossible, unbelievable, hopeless health campaign

Adrants just posted this nice tease-and-reveal billboard campaign from Kansas City's St. Luke's Health System.

 The tease:

The reveal:

What's nice about doing a campaign like this now is that you don't even need that much of a media buy. The ads themselves are a publicity stunt, that will be shared far and wide on traditional and social media.

Nice work.

I resolve...

I really freaking love cheeseburgers. But this campaign for Dangerous Dan's Diner in Toronto — dripping with both irony and grease — has inspired my New Year's Resolutions for 2011:

I resolve to eat healthier, with less meat and more veggies.

I resolve to reduce the amount that I eat,
and increase the quality of ingredients.

I resolve to support healthy and humane farming and
slaughtering practices (as much as I can) in my food purchases.

Ummm... I forgot what this resolution was about.

Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe. Be healthy. Be excellent to each other.

Happy #@¢%ing Father's Day

Everyone is familiar with the stereotype that men are really bad at preventative health. Hell, I just had my first physical exam in many years, and that was only brought on by a combination of turning 40 and having a scary family history. So I assume that is the rationale behind the shock tactics employed by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ):





Will it work? Probably not on the men who are the worst offenders. Attempts to shame have a habit of backfiring in social marketing because they push the brain into defensive processing (otherwise known as "denial").

This campaign was launched on Father's Day, too. Ouch.

There are two more commercials you can view on the campaign web site.

Is American healthcare any better than their pronunciation?

WHAT my health?



I keep hoping this is fake, but Fauquier Health is a real America hospital in Warrenton, Virginia. And they host these videos on their Facebook page.

From their YouTube link:

We're very excited to share with you the two new Fauquier Health television commercials promoting our patient-centered care. (www.fauquierhealth.org)

The spots have some fun with larger health care institutions, and place importance on the indivualized care offered at Fauquier Health. The spots are also posted on our Fauquier Health fan page on Facebook, so feel free to become a fan and share the spots with your Facebook friends.

Don't believe me? Here's another one:



Now that I've thought about it, maybe they're more clever than I gave them credit for. But either way, at least they went viral...



No, YOU Fauquier Health.

Chained by Facebook

"No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day."

The latest grassroots Facebook Status Meme addresses the bitter debate over healthcare in Obama's United States.

Anyone who has spent any time on American internet fora knows how nasty this stuff can get. Something that's taken for granted in the rest of the civilized world — publicly funded basic healthcare — in the U.S. has become the most divisive issue since teaching science in schools.

But why are Canadians getting involved? I got two updates this morning from fellow hosers, good and smart people who I assume did so as a show of support for the American movement. When whoever started this chain-letter tallies up the hits, I doubt they'll differentiate between Canadian and U.S. buzz.

As I snarked to another Facebook friend, "I guess Canadians see themselves as secret agents of change"...

That said, I think the only thing it will accomplish is to further enrage conservative social networking pundits in the U.S. (They're now trying to work up a counter-status update.) Oh well, at least it has them talking.