What are effective ways to use social influence for healthcare access?

Having access to the Health system is key and welfare in Europe is an important achievement although it must improve efficiency, talents , waiting time and difference in territorial quality. However, more prevention is necessary that would positively impact each person's life and economic development. For this purpose, communication and dissemination of information about health is useful, but with a lot of filtering to avoid false information. I think it would be interesting to have a subject in schools about a healthy lifestyle, which is the basis of prevention.

In India, particularly in rural and underserved areas, the lack of information about available healthcare services/benefits, lack of infrastructure and distances to healthcare facilities – all create a formidable barricade between individuals and their right to good health. The commodification of health care that we see today transforms citizens into mere consumers, who are filtered through purchasing power to justify what they can afford, rather than claiming it as a right. An active civil society is key to replacing this dominant discourse and achieving the "right to health/health care."

Access to healthcare is an important social justice issue. Often, the people who most need healthcare, and those experiencing the greatest health inequalities, are the ones with the worst access. This is true even in relatively affluent countries with well established public health care, like the UK. As specialist care becomes more centralised and less dispersed, it becomes less accessible to people who do not have a car. People with multiple health conditions often struggle to navigate different hospitals and departments that do not communicate well with each other. And disabled people generally find healthcare hard to access, with fewer services offered at home and in local communities.

In our interconnected world, social influence plays a crucial role, especially in vital sectors such as healthcare. So how can we mobilize this influence to widen access to healthcare? Maybe partnerships with Influencers can help: Collaborating with healthcare influencers can help disseminate reliable information, raise awareness on specific topics, and encourage positive health behaviors. Their reach is an asset for reaching diverse audiences. Or community engagement can be a solution: Health initiatives gain in authenticity and trust when backed by real-life testimonials. Involving patients, healthcare professionals and caregivers in storytelling campaigns can humanize your message and inspire action.

Social impact can have a huge impact on highlighting healthcare needs. In the last few years, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen how vital social influence has been with respect to widening the pathway towards destigmatizing mental health and seeking therapy. All across social media, we've seen celebrities, athletes, and well respected leaders in various countries, use their platforms to have open discussions about their own (or loved one's) mental health journey, and highlight the importance of having access to quality mental health support. This has expanded discussions regarding access, as well as helped to highlight ongoing barriers that impact people's ability to access care.

- It aids in building a collective understanding of the benefits and risks associated with different health measures, empowering individuals to make informed choices. Eg. use of health supplements - It can alleviate apprehensions and motivate individuals to prioritize their health. For eg. seeking mental health support, or taking benefits under maternal health schemes like Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (India). - It acts as a catalyst for community empowerment and seeking health as a right, amplifying voices to demand improved access to quality healthcare and affordable health services and demanding action. - It has the power to break down cultural stigmas, dispel misinformation, and build a collective commitment to health.

By Promoting best young people's success stories in their communities, empower their digital ability to communicate, share and impact others, as role models for their attitudes and actions.

The examples given here are all of social influence led by health services. It is obviously for health services to share good public health information with people, but often the strongest social influence is peer-to-peer. This is particularly true when it comes to self management of long-term conditions: people with newly developed or newly diagnosed health problems very often learn more from others who have been through similar experiences, than they do from health professionals.

Social platforms are powerful tools for breaking down accessibility barriers. Organizing question-and-answer sessions, sharing case studies, or even offering online assistance can remove uncertainties and encourage the adoption of healthcare services.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) are often trusted community members effective in reaching out and engaging target populations. While there are various CHW models, generally speaking, they can?facilitate care coordination?with health and health-related providers, enhance access to community-based services, address social determinants of health, and?provide health education.

Whoever or whatever the source of social influence, the key is trusted relationships. Very few people or organisations, even very expert ones, are automatically trusted by people and communities. Anyone who seeks to influence health choices and health care must invest in building relationships with the people they want to listen to them, or must work with others, who do already have trusted relationships.

One-off campaigns will always have limited impact, and influence will be as easily reversed as it has been created. Investing in long-term and ongoing relationships with people and communities, especially those experiencing the greatest health disparities, is a far more successful and sustainable strategy than any kind of one-off campaign.

A key question to ask at this point is influence in which direction?! This discussion thread so far focuses on services influencing people and patients, but it is equally important - if not more important - to think carefully about how people and communities can influence health services. Public-led strategies, from complaining to campaigning to people providing direct help and support to each other, are absolutely vital for good health care, and for addressing health disparities. Health is not something that services give to people! It is something that people have and mostly manage for themselves, but sometimes need help to maintain.

Cultural competence is required in healthcare providers, health systems, and policymakers to effectively deliver quality patient outcomes, especially in working with vulnerable and underserved communities. Building and sustaining cultural competence in healthcare requires a multi-pronged approach areas like: - Research and data collection - Workforce pipeline development and investments - Integration of CHWs into care teams - Access to cultural and linguistic services - Ongoing training of staff at every level of an organization

I agree with the comments shared below by Carol with respect to cultural competence and I would go a step further and offer that I believe that cultural humility is actually needed. It is almost impossible to be competent in someone's culture however, we can certainly be culturally respectful, culturally honoring, culturally curious, and culturally humble in our approach to learning and understanding their needs. Creating an organizational culture that is accountable for respecting clients and ensuring that everyone within the system takes an approach that engages people's perspectives, values, and beliefs, while balanced against the importance of addressing the presenting need is necessary.