Part 2: Types of medical content and healthcare communication

Hello, and welcome back to exploring the world of medical communication through content writing.

There's a lot to be said about the written word, and in the field of healthcare, 'writing' forms the basic building block. It often forms the key to elevating patient care and increasing healthcare related knowledge.

A well written piece of medical communication can be defined as:

• Informative, yet concise.
• Impactful titles and sub-titles.
• Listed highlight points, preferably in bullets.
• Interspersed with figures, graphs and charts to ensure better visual uptake.
• Provides meaningful takeaways to the readers, who for most part are extremely short of time (read doctors and other healthcare workers).

That being said, medical communication comes in various formats; each with its own form of writing, based on 2 key aspects - the target audience and the place where it's going to be published.

Target audience:

Contrary to popular belief, the target audience for medical/ healthcare related content is as varied as it is for other literary content. Target audiences can be broadly classified as medical and non-medical.

Medical target audiences are those who are certified in some aspect of healthcare or medicine. Doctors, nurses, dentists, dieticians, nutritiontists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, laboratory technicians, etc., lie in this bracket.

Points to be considered when writing content for a 'medical' target audience:

• Be precise and articulate.
• Use jargons and medical terms.
• Insert graphs, forest plots, charts, medical illustrations freely into the content.
• Ensure that each graph or chart has a highlight / take-away point.
• Avoid use of long paragraphs and descriptive sentences.
• Have a section on clinical application.
• Wrap up with a short summary or a list of take-away points.

A non-medical target audience is anyone interested in health care; patients, caregivers, fittness buffs, laypeople who want to learn about health and well-being.

Points to be considered when writing content for a 'non-medical' target audience:

• If you use jargons and medical terminology, ensure that these are properly explained in simple words for ease of understanding.
• Use simple diagrams and illustrations to explain scientific concepts.
• Provide analogies to make understanding easier.
• Use highlight points, insert links for better grasp of concepts.
• Wrap up with a summary of how to use the information in daily life.

Place of publication:

The place of publication will dictate the flow and construct of content. For example; a blog article for a website will be differently constructed and written as compared to a leaflet or brochure to be printed and distributed.

Online and offline articles can be considered as one of the most important classification in this category.

Online content can be further classified into blogs, webpages, online journals, magazines, social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter), high ranking publishing webistes like medium, etc.

Ofline content can be in the form of posters, brochures, journals, newspapers and other print medium literature.

Each of these publication outlets have their own specific content type and flow; the details of which I will take up in subsequent articles.

Once the type of audience and the place of publication is decided, the path to writing an interesting piece of medical communication becomes a little clearer. All you need to do is put yourself in the shoes of your target audience, understand the space in which it's being published and you are set to go!

Stay tuned for more on medical communication and healthcare content writing!

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