“You’ve got to be where the people are”

TWO Australian clinical pharmacists have launched a new evidence-based women’s health education platform to address what they believe is one of the biggest emerging challenges in modern healthcare – women feeling increasingly overwhelmed, confused and unsupported when navigating health information online. Sisters Miranda Chan and Courtney Oar (pictured) designed the Pretty Proven platform to support and complement healthcare professionals by delivering accessible, digestible and evidence-based health education tailored for the modern consumer. Topics range from hormonal changes, perimenopause and fertility, to gut health supplements, longevity and preventive health. “When navigating health information online, we were really concerned about how much misinformation was out there and how information from social media influencers potentially had sort of conflicts of interest through advertising and sponsorships,” Oar told Pharmacy Daily. Chan said the catalyst for action was a podcast video on Instagram. “The person that they were interviewing injected the host – on camera – with unregulated peptides that he got out of his fridge at home,” Chan explained. “I looked at the credentials of this gentleman and he had a business degree and some kind of ownership of the peptide company – so [there was] a huge conflict of interest. “But I found this so alarming, it put a fire under me to really take on this space,” she told PD. The initiative is not about replacing doctors or healthcare teams, but rather improving health literacy and supporting more informed patient conversations, stressed the sisters. “We know that the majority of people now access to health information online, and we’re just trying to make the online space much more helpful and evidence-based for people who are there,” Chan said. “You’ve got to be where the people are,” she added. Oar told PD that future plans for the website include creating a community for women who can access trusted health advice from registered health professionals, “but also have that community feeling, a feeling of being listened to, a feeling of being respected – because that’s what we do here”. “I think it’s a really exciting time to be a pharmacist,” Oar continued. “[Based on] the trends that we’re seeing with women seeking health information online, we as pharmacists are uniquely positioned to meet them where they are and be essential in providing that health information to them.” Now the platform is up and running, the sisters are keen to work with community pharmacists, providing a tool that they can direct their patients to. “Use us as a resource,” Chan urged. Access the website HERE. KB The post “You’ve got to be where the people are” appeared first on Pharmacy Daily.