Updated on September 18, 2022 September 17 is the #patientsafetyday. This year’s theme is medication safety. WHO calls for urgent action for achieving medication without harm. Healthcare institutions employ the Swiss Cheese Model to prevent medication errors. This post discusses this model and its improved version: The hot cheese model. The Swiss Cheese Model and the Hot Cheese Model revolutionize the way we traditionally think of human error. In short, both models force us to move away from “blaming someone” for human error; instead, it pushes us to look at human error as a consequence, not as a cause. The…

Above are the global conferences logos of the Ottawa Charter held in different cities since 1986. Since then, thirty years have passed. This post explores the Charter’s legendary 30-year-long journey travelling from city to city from Ottawa in 1986 to Shanghai in 2016. The Charter’s birth The Ottawa Charter‘s groundwork was laid in 1978 with the Declaration on Primary Health Care at Alma-Ata, Russia. What is health? The word, “health”, refers to complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity as articulated in 1948. Writing an editorial to the Health Promotion International on behalf…

You must have been in a library; you stay silent. That is a classic social norm example. Another common one is littering. As we all know social norms can either be socially desirable or socially undesirable. Every day we adhere to social norms that are an array of unwritten sets of rules we follow. In a way, these play a crucial role in the smooth functioning of a society. Once we deviate from it, we can expect negative consequences. Robert Cialdini deconstructs the concept further; he describes two types of social norms: Descriptive and injunctive. Descriptive (popular) social norms = What…

This message becomes more relevant now than before with the growing presence of the COVID 19 variants. The new variants are more transmissible; for example, the UK variant is said to be 56 percent more transmissible than the original COVID 19 virus. What does that mean? It means if the original one takes 20 days to double the number of us infected, this variant will do it within 10 days. Some epidemiologists predict the numbers can go up by more than 10 fold if the current lockdown restrictions are removed.

Germany mandated the wearing of surgical masks, commonly called N95 while traveling public transport and public places two days ago. Previously clinical studies have shown cloth masks’ efficacy varies from 30 percent to 80 percent. Last December, a German community-based comparative study found normal masks’ efficacy as 45 percent. The following image was taken from the CNN World website; it clearly compares the efficacy of cloth masks, surgical masks, and the N95 (respirator).

Even after a year, some are grappling with the same old question: Is Covid 19 different from the seasonal flu? How do we communicate the risk convincingly to this target audience? Obviously, we need to compare number of deaths due to Covid 19 with the number of deaths due to the seasonal flu. The Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication in the University of Cambridge has done exactly that. Look at the following graph; It compares the number of COVID 19 deaths with the deaths from influenza flu and several other common causes. As we can clearly see that the…

The US CDC data reveals an interesting age-specific case versus deaths paradox. Look at the following graph. I created the graph using data available at the US CDC website. Of all the COVID-19 cases, 85.6 percent occurred among those aged equal and below 64 years. In contrast, of all the COVID-19 deaths, 80.6 percent occurred among those aged 65 and above. Now, my message is clear and straightforward based on this graph: Minimize the contact between these two age groups. How can we minimize the contacts between these two age groups? My suggestions are; Provide financial and other incentives to…

A face mask over your mouth AND nose is not a substitute for physical distancing; stay at least 6 feet apart from those who don’t live with you. Messageframing.com #WearAMask over youth mouth AND nose in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart from people who don’t live with you and washing your hands often.

Cover youth mouth AND nose

Cover your mouth AND nose