How can health content keep up?

Health information is more readily available than ever. And as AI platforms arm us with expertise, the very nature of knowledge blurs before our eyes. But what can healthcare brands do to keep up?

We know that 20% of Gen Z and Millennials are already more likely to use digital health or AI insights to guide their care. And we only expect that number to grow.

For these digital natives, armed with unprecedented levels of health insights, the challenge isn’t finding the information, it’s navigating the noise and understanding who to trust.

The healthcare brands that will come out on top will be those that see this behavioural shift as a signal to evolve, and rethink how they engage with their audiences.

The question is no longer ‘how can we educate and inspire our audience?’, it’s ‘how can we bring value to what they already know?’

From passive to active

Today’s consumers have a new set of expectations for their healthcare providers. They see themselves as active agents in their own health stories, with choice and control over the care they receive. The brands they choose to trust will be those that recognise and support this new dynamic.

The move from patient to partner is reflected more broadly in the shift from reactive care at the point of need to proactivity and prevention. 

In turn, younger generations are becoming more attuned to the positive lifestyle changes they can make in order to optimise their long-term health, or ‘healthspan’. According to McKinsey’s Future of Wellness research, Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to prioritise sleep, nutrition, fitness and mindfulness than the generations before them.

For health content to stay relevant, it needs to mirror the changing priorities of its audiences. It should give consumers tangible ways of taking action and optimising their health today, so they can look ahead to a healthier future. 

What does this look like in practice?

Science-backed gut health and nutrition brand, ZOE has developed a content strategy that heroes personalisation and proactivity. Through its new app, ZOE 2.0, users can access a tailored library of information and advice, relevant to their unique gut health profiles. To help drive positive and lasting results, their in-app health coach ‘Ziggie’ translates complex information into easy-to-follow lessons, and gamified, habit-forming activities.

‘Why?’ is the new ‘what?’

When your customer ‘knows it all’ already, how can you add value through content?

The answer lies in trust, transparency and agency.

As plausible as AI-generated health advice can sound, not all responses are reliable. ‘Hallucinations’ and biases – resulting in misleading or incorrect information – are still common. To counteract this, health content should surface careful, reputable nuance to facts and findings. That’s trust. 

Now more than ever, authors should back any stats or claims with clinical context, peer-reviewed sources and evidence-based studies and, above all, focus on explaining the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’. That’s transparency.

While AI encourages people to outsource their thinking, healthcare brands can do the opposite. By sharing diverse perspectives, real human stories, and demonstrating facts rather than just relaying them, content authors can encourage people to think (and make decisions) for themselves. That’s agency.

In practising all three, healthcare brands can bolster their position as the single source of truth for their customers; trustworthy guides through a maze of information overwhelm.

Connect the dots

Reflective of the shift towards proactive and preventive health and wellbeing, the use of wearable health tech is growing at lightspeed. 

From smart watches, rings and fitness bands to wearable ECG patches; simple fitness trackers have evolved into personal health monitors, and specialised, clinical tests have made their way into the mainstream. 

Now, individuals can collect in-depth data on everything from sleep quality and cardiovascular health to infection detection, all at the touch of a button.

But, more data doesn’t always mean more clarity.

Healthcare brands have a clear opportunity to distill complex health data into actionable insights backed by experience and expertise. Content should focus on connecting the dots, and offer practical ways for consumers to harness their personal health data in order to reap the rewards and lead healthier lives. 

In fact, this principle played a crucial role in our work with international health insurers, Bupa Global. As part of a broader strategic and creative partnership, our team led the research, editorial and design of their monthly members’ newsletter, Members First, to bring informative, inspirational, and actionable health insights to their diverse global audience. This included step-by-step guides to translating health tech data into meaningful action. 

Where do we go from here?

As information continues to overflow from AI chatbots, health wearables become increasingly advanced, and attitudes to health become more proactive and preventive, consumers will turn to the healthcare brands they can trust.  

Health content will play a vital role in driving this trust; by meeting the needs of rising generations, brands can empower them to take charge of their own health journeys.  

If you’re ready to shape a content strategy that can keep pace with the changing nature of knowledge, we’re with you. Get in touch today.