CELEBRITY POWER AND MEDICAL FIELD!

Celebrities are increasingly making a big influence on patients and healthcare. People tend to rely more on what their favorite celebrity tells about a disease than what their expert doctors say. This may seem to be good as a means of moral support but not for expert opinions. Patients do not realize that every case is different and what the celebrity is telling is related to his or her case and it may not always be true for the case of the individual person. This type of blind faith on what celebrities tell about a particular disease may be detrimental for patient care. So what should be done about it? 

Celebrities and their experiences 

Celebrities talking about their diseases such as cancer in public may be good as long as it functions more for solace, consolation or moral support. The patients who have a similar disease tend to not feel alone and isolated. He or she feels that the world is not lost and the positive words from a celebrity can be soothing. But the goodness of such celebrity revelations ends here. It is important for the patient to know and understand that those celebrity revelations cannot be generalizations. Every individual case is different and only experts in the field can capable of opining on it.

Kim Kardashian and one of her endorsements [Source: Daily Mail UK]

A celebrity is by no means in a position to give advice to a person on such life-threatening illnesses like cancer or any other grave disease. The celebrity can talk of his or her ailment and how that specific case was managed. But the celebrity cannot advise people on how they should manage their case. Only a licensed medical practitioner would be able to address these issues. The disease and its management in the celebrity cannot be extrapolated to other patients. 

Responsibilities of the doctors 

It is extremely difficult for doctors to handle such patients who are heavily influenced by celebrity revelations and narrations. The doctor runs the risk of losing patient confidence if the doctor point blank tells the patient that he or she should not listen to what the celebrity is saying. The patient may not argue but also will not come back to the same doctor for the continuation of treatment. Thus the doctor would have lost the golden opportunity to talk out the wrong stuff in the patient. 

 Doctors cannot ignore celebrity power to influence the patient mind. Therefore, subtle and careful handling of such situations is warranted. The doctor should deal with the situation slowly and one by one. At no point should the doctor negate the celebrity directly. Therefore, first and foremost the doctor can start by stating that it is good to know that the patient is internet-savvy and has gone on the internet to search for information. The doctor should make the patient feel comfortable and happy before the medical person further goes on to explain more about the individualness of the case with the patient. The physician should talk all about the patient’s disease and remain focused on it. The doctor should touch on the patient’s severity of the disease and also chalk out the ailment management. This will help the patient to know about his or her disease in more detail. Remember that a detailed and simple to understand communication should be maintained at all times with the patient. Good communication is key to proper information and weeding out the wrong information. 

Doctor talking to the patient [Source: Pinterest]

As the explanation goes on between the doctor and the patient, the patient will definitely start pointing out the differences on what you are saying and what they felt that their celebrity said. This would be the point for the doctor to clear the doubts in the mind of the patient. The physician should explain the case to the patient and also state how his or her case is different from that of the celebrity. The doctor should also stress on what the media has not reported about the case of the celebrity. Positivity is good but over-optimism is not healthy. This should be repeatedly and forcefully put across to the patient but without hurting the emotions and feelings of the patient. 

Remember that for most of the patients, the celebrities are no less than gods and they relate to them more than they do to the medical fraternity. Try to understand this important aspect and move on accordingly with patient care. 

 Unity of the medical fraternity and mass communication 

On the other hand, doctors also have another important role to play in society. This is to unite and try to make some efforts to make specific rules that prohibit the media from spreading one-sided and false propaganda of the diseases of the celebrity. The celebrities cannot be allowed to use the media as a publicity stunt. The role of the media is to show both the good as well as the bad sides of the treatment of the celebrity and also talk about the prognosis of the disease. Such balanced articles on the celebrity and the ailment can go a long way to prevent the spread of false information. The falsity should be nipped at the bud stage and this can only be done if the medical fraternity unites together to make forceful laws in this direction!!! It can be made mandatory for celebrities to consult a medical organization before they speak anything online or on their social media. Medical knowledge should speak and not money!

Social influence [Source: Psychologist World]

 Doctors should be aware of the media reports along with their academic knowledge. They should recognize the influencing power of celebrities and social media these days. They could use it in the right way for betterment rather than trying to eradicate it completely. They should hold regular sessions with their clientele to make them aware that excessive reliance on social media and narrations of celebrities could be harmful to them.