As new technologies emerge with the promise of personalization, safety, or constant connection, some are beginning to feel surveilled, watched in the moments where they don’t want to be seen. In this episode we discuss the growing value of anonymity, allowing people to engage at a distance at first and building trust over time.

This is a great listen for any brands looking to thoughtfully integrate themselves into their audience’s community or way of life.

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Click here to read the team's whitepaper: "Where Culture Meets AI: Scaling the Human-Centered Healthcare Experience"

As we continue growing our understanding of AI's role in our business, it's crucial to discuss why scale without cultural intelligence risks doing more harm than good. In this episode, we're joined by Eirasmin Lokpez-Cobo and Mark Makuch to discuss reactions to their recently published whitepaper and their efforts to infuse cultural intelligence into AI to have a more relevant and equitable impact.

This is a great listen for anyone trying to elevate their work with AI, while keeping humanity at the center. 

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In this episode, we are joined by Eirásmin Lokpez-Cobo, EVP of Brand Strategy at República Havas Health, to dive into the insights from her team's recently published white paper, Equity in Action: Mapping the Multicultural Patient Journey for Inclusive Strategies (link below). This insightful paper sheds light on the systemic barriers and health-related behaviors that shape the experiences of diverse U.S. audiences throughout their patient journey.                                                                    

This is part one of our two-part series focusing on the multicultural patient experience. We start by building a shared understanding of the barriers that prevent engagement with health systems. From there, we uncover overlooked elements of their journey, such as the unique health priorities of multicultural patients and the sources of trust they rely on. Disengagement isn’t solely rooted in mistrust, nor does the desire to achieve better health simply fade away. To truly "meet patients where they are," we must understand the where they are willing—and able—to go.

Here's the link to the team's whitepaper: 24_RHH_WHITEPAPER_2_EQUITY-IN-ACTION_MAPPING-THE-MULTICULTURAL-PATIENT-JOURNEY-FOR-INCLUSIVE-STRATEGIES_LONG.pdf

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Women's professional sports are "having a moment", but this did not happen in a vacuum nor did it happen overnight. In a highly anticipated episode (for us), we finally got a chance to sit down with Claire Knapp (CEO of Havas Lynx) and Denise Melone (Managing Director of Havas Life San Francisco) to discuss the implications of the growth of women's sports, both as a business and as an opportunity. Both of these female leaders are accomplished athletes, and we discuss the role of things like teamwork, coaching, and mental fortitude, learned on the judo mats and tennis courts, in their successes as corporate leaders at Havas. 

The growing interest in the competitive aspects of women's sports has coincided with the appearance of women in a variety of hitherto-denied spaces, such as the boardroom, the judging panel, and even just full-court basketball (looking at you, Sue Atkins--my mom). While this shift is notable, both Claire and Denise express the sentiment that disparities in treatment, compensation and conversation are still as important as ever to address and overcome. What's important is how we talk about women, not as bodies but as humans, and, in the case for this episode, as fierce, aggressive, badass athletes.

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With the advent of GLP-1 drugs, it was only a matter of time before Brad and Gabriel dove into a discussion about this controversial drug class and the equally contentious disease, obesity. In this episode, they explore a range of topics—from the history of obesity and its recognition as a disease to how GLP-1s like Ozempic are influencing the conversation around the legitimacy and stigma of obesity beyond just Body Mass Index (BMI).

One of the most compelling ideas from this thought-provoking episode centers on control—how we perceive our own health and judge others, assuming people have more control over their health outcomes than they really do. This theme cuts to the heart of the obesity debate: are we excusing unhealthy habits, or are we acknowledging that the issue is far more complex than we originally thought?

The inspiration for this episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/19/opinion/obesity-disease-ozempic-weight-loss.html

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Our fascination with neurodivergence continues as we are joined by PsyD, Dr. Matt Zakreski to breakdown the semantics of giftedness, and inclusive design for neurodivergent people in a variety of public spaces. The term "gifted" was of particular interest of us and our guest because at one point in each of our lives we had been called out of the classroom to take an exam that would ultimately label us as gifted. While it does make some complex topics clear, some seemingly simple topics are much harder to resolve for gifted children - the mistake lies in assuming that exceptional skills make them exceptional at everything.

One thread that connects this episode to our previous conversation with Kathryn Parsons, was this idea that neurodivergent people may consciously modify behavior to receive the expected response from the world. To varying degrees, they anticipate their settings, surroundings, and (most importantly) the people they come into contact with in order to socially adapt and make it through the day. This gives meaning to the phrase "meeting someone where they are" especially important as something to stive for, but it's also clearer why it can be hard to do: people habituate to their circumstances and can end up suffering in silence.

Purchase Dr. Matt's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Neurodiversity-Playbook-Neurodivergent-People-Neurotypical/dp/195336036X

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In this episode, recorded right before the Labor Day weekend, Brad and Gabe have one thing on their minds... barbecuing! More specifically, they're thinking about barbecuing as a ritual, a set of behaviors with rules, inversions of norms, specific settings and a meaning that goes beyond its function.

In health, rituals are overlooked, but they're are a desired part of the human experience, even if patients and consumers don't articulate it. Think about where you'd be comfortable getting a shot from your HCP. In a parking lot? The elevator? The waiting area? The doctor's office? A successful health experiences hinges on an individual's comfort, familiarity and trust, so rituals play a crucial role in making procedures feel safe and making recipients feel dignified.

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The term "neurodiversity," introduced 25 years ago by autistic Australian sociologist Judy Singer, marked a milestone in our understanding of autism and the appreciation of "difference, not deficit" in how brains work. More than a buzzword, neurodiversity describes a growing population whose brains work differently from the "neurotypical," and whose historic separation from social engagement has been replaced with a social inclusion that allows them to share their unique talents and perspectives. These differences go beyond functional tasks like working in an office or completing an exam. Their unique interactions with the world inform their fascinating worldview and their day-to-day challenges. For us in advertising, knowing how your audience interacts with the world is crucial to creating communication that speaks to them.

In this episode, Brad and Gabe are joined by Havas' own, Kathryn Parsons, a digital marketing expert and an advocate for neurodiversity. Kathryn has autism, and she shares multiple anecdotes describing how she's adapted to a neurotypical world. The three of them also discuss what brands can be doing better to reach their neurodiverse audience - which is 1 in every 5 of us.

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A cancer diagnosis is a "moment of truth" that brings an undeniable shift to someone's identity. Faced with one's own mortality, a concerted effort may be required to overcome the dissonance between "who I was" and "who I am now". When communicating to patients diagnosed with cancer, we often attempt to address this new-found perspective by creating "hero" tropes or by relying on aspirational calls to action, invoking tropes that fail to clarify the practical struggle people with cancer face ("am I a hero? I don't feel like one...")

Brad and Gabe received a special request to discuss the dynamics of communication for patients with poor prognosis or late-stage cancers. They discuss the shame that may be present for lung cancer patients who were former smokers, the lack of attention paid to ovarian cancer as a women's health issue and the unnecessary pressure brought on by labeling someone with cancer as a "fighter".

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Correction: In this episode, we mention that Anna Calix had a miscarriage. Anna actually had a 40 week stillbirth. Miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) is a fetal demise in utero at less than 20 weeks of pregnancy, and stillbirth (fetal death) is a spontaneous fetal demise in utero at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. The two have very different experiences medically, legally, logistically, and socially.

The relationship between content and audience is always complex, and the power of words to inspire or harm is widely debated. In this episode, we discuss the controversial yet ubiquitous "trigger warning," a specific form of content advisory suggesting that some content is so offensive or traumatic it may "trigger" you. Trigger warnings are relatively new and are seen both as a means of respecting and including your audience by allowing them to disengage from harmful content and as evidence of a decline in the ability to handle difficult content.

While content warnings and advisories have long been part of the landscape, the concept of "trigger" is contentious. It has moved from a clinical environment into a moral one, where "offensive" content is labeled as potentially triggering--even in cases where no underlying trauma exists to be triggered. One under-examined aspect of trigger warnings is the potential re-stigmatization of storytellers whose work is labeled and the reinforcement of cultural taboos. Should scenes of interracial dating or stories of single motherhood come with trigger warnings if the audience finds such content distasteful? 

Join us as we explore the emerging literature and experimental data on trigger warnings, their utility, function, and impact.

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In this episode, Brad and Gabe delve into the US Surgeon General's proposal to introduce warning labels on social media platforms, aimed at highlighting their impact on young people's mental health. In the US, the surgeon general is seen as a moral authority who looks at social issues through a health-first lens from the dangers of social media to gun violence.  There's a lot to discuss here from the complexities of communicating risk to teenagers and Murthy's strategic choice to liken these risks to those associated with smoking cigarettes.

While using warning labels may not be the most effective method to deter use in the short term, the branding associated with such labels can have lasting effects. Many of us broadly understand the potential negative effects of social media on mental health, but a warning label would explicitly create the connection between harm and these platforms - it's a confrontation reminding them of the risks of logging in.

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 In this episode, we’re joined by Eve McDavid and Dr. Onyinye Balogun, founders of Mission Driven Tech, a Cervical Cancer innovation company. Their story is an inspirational application of Breaking the Code's themes of inclusive design, varied expressions of pain, and uncomfortable conversations that save lives. Our discussion delves into women's health and cervical cancer, highlighting their current focus: their treatment tool called The Blossom, a medical device used in Brachytherapy, internal radiation procedures that cure Cervical Cancer. The Blossom is designed to alleviate the severe pain and trauma women endure during current brachytherapy procedures, pain so intense it sometimes leads patients to abandon treatment, a devastating and fatal decision. 

Mission Driven Tech is raising capital to advance their groundbreaking work, and you can support them by contributing to their crowdfunding campaign featured on their website (https://missiondriventech.com/). Sharing this episode and the links below within your network can also help spread their important message and support their mission to save lives by modernizing cervical cancer treatments. 

Special thanks to Jose Walewski for connecting us with Mission Driven Tech! 

To contribute to Mission Driven Tech:  https://www.ifundwomen.com/projects/blossom-modern-cure-cervical-cancer
Follow Mission Driven Tech on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/mission-driven-tech
Connect with Eve McDavid: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evemcdavid/
Connect with Dr. Onyinye Balogun: https://www.linkedin.com/in/odbalogun/  

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This Rare Disease Month, the team is shifting its focus to the caregivers.
 
Caregiving is often seen as the ultimate display of love. It's a role that needs more recognition, but when we start thinking about caregivers as heroes, we risk no longer seeing them as people who could need support from others. In this episode, Sonika and Gabe are joined by Raregivers' founder Cristol Barrett O'Loughlin, Havas Health's Global Rare Disease Lead Afshan Rizvi Hussain, and Social Strategist Binaka Norris to discuss the emotional pain caregivers endure and the global PSA they're launching for Rare Disease Day to bring that pain to light. Their illuminating conversation examines how idealized narratives of strength can unintentionally deepen stigma and suppress vulnerability. Through the lens of caregivers of people with rare diseases, they explore the emotional complexity of long-term care and the psychology of self-sacrifice.

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In a world of ubiquitous marketing, figuring out what supports a "healthy lifestyle" can be challenging. Marketers have picked up on the cultural trend towards wellness branding, and are enthusiastically, if somewhat disingenuously, leaning into claims that are technically true but not very helpful--"no added sugar", for example, is true, but irrelevant, for a product that has a high glycemic index (like fruit juices). This "healthwashing" has been seen across the spectrum of brands, from the curious case of fast foods chains removing unhealthy signifiers like "fried" from their names (BK, Dunkin', KFC, etc.), to the less curious but equally nefarious labeling practices of breakfast cereals and protein bars, brands are eagerly touting their health benefits. 

In this episode, we talk about healthwashing and touch on many forms of virtue signaling. One important takeaway: We know that people are keenly aware of their health nowadays, so brands, across the board, shouldn't shy away from communicating the real role they can play. The importance is delivering that message in a way that's true to each brand, in a way that maintains their identity and respects their audience.

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As people become more conscious and more knowledgeable about their health, it's on brands and health institutions to become more intimately aware of their consumer's (or patient's) health needs and goals. Someone who "does their own research" isn't operating in a silo - they still rely on the opinions of others, friends, influencers, health professionals and brands, to validate their decisions.

In this episode, we are joined by Dan Weaden, CEO of Havas Consumer Health, to talk about the wide array of influences to a consumer's decision making journey. Understanding this journey starts with an acknowledgement of the changing landscape of how consumers interact with health brands, their priorities, the best channels to reach them, and their desire to interact authentically.

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In honor of Parkinson's awareness month, we're joined by Howard Lenn, EVP, Executive Creative Director at Havas Health Plus, to discuss his team's approach to the work on the "The Kama Sutra of Parkinson's", ParkinSex. Couples that include someone with Parkinson's are more likely to separate than couples that don't. Howard talks about the massive strain Parkinson's puts on intimacy, prior to any touching, where one is feeling performance-related shame and/or struggling to communicate wants and needs. The love is there, and ParkinSex puts the focus on practicing intimacy.

ParkinSex is not only great award-winning work, but it puts into practice a lot of the themes that have been previously discussed on this podcast, conducting primary research, co-creating with communities, the shame-stigma-taboo trichotomy, and implementing inclusive design. It is one of the finalists in the Webby Awards People's Voice Award for Health, Wellness & Pharmaceutical Advertising place your vote for ParkinSex here:
https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2024/advertising-media-pr/branded-content/health-wellness-pharmaceutical

Read the case study here: https://parkinsexcasestudy.com/

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Something that has fascinated us recently is the role culture plays in the emotional aspects of storytelling. The emotional response, its justification and the words used to describe it all are heavily influenced by an individual's identity and how they've learned to express themselves. In this episode, we discuss some of the culture differences when it comes to talking about pain and the importance of being a good listener. In our roles, we are listeners that support other listeners, whether its an HCP hearing their patients needs or members of a disease community propping each other up. Listening to someone's pain, however they express it, is how we learn and design successful outcomes for them..

Like you'll hear us say many times in the episode, pain is a broad topic with many interesting facets to discuss and discover - and we intend to do more episodes on other aspects of pain in the future. While listening, if you hear something interesting that you would like to hear more about, feel free to reach out to Brad, Sonika and Gabriel using the email below. 

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Too often in our industry, when we say "healthcare professional" what we really mean is ONE healthcare profession, the prescribing Medical Doctor. However, nursing is and always has been a part of the healthcare professional team, and today more than ever the roles nurses play in providing care are exactly those we cannot do without. Nursing is impossible to do remotely; they are the hands-on heartbeat of any hospital, clinic, or practice. It is important that we recognize them as a unique profession, with their own preferences, culture and role within healthcare. Nurses are not "lesser doctors", and our efforts should reflect their practices, culture, history, and roles in medicine. Like everyone else, nurses benefit from our work most when we design for them specifically, and what helps nurses helps patients, doctors, and everyone else in the healthcare environment. 

In this special episode celebrating Women's History Month, we are joined by Lisa Chobanian, RN, MS, and also Associate Managing Director of Unification Services at H4B Chelsea, to break down the important distinctions within the culture of nurses and how we can reach them, specifically, as we communicate to HCPs at large.

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Recently, a number of prestigious U.S. universities have talked about reinstating The Scholastic Aptitude Test, more infamously known as The SAT, for applicants to their undergraduate programs. The SAT was once mandatory for college applications, but has become optional and then not used at all in progressive stages over the past two decades. However, debate rages as to whether schools' test optional policies have hurt students (low-income students in particular) who have not been submitting their scores. The president of Dartmouth justified the institutions reinstatement of the exam by claiming that SAT scores, sometimes below average ones, help identify students who "excel in their environment".

In this episode, we look at the SATs as a case study in the challenges of creating an equitable system. The SAT is a part of a flawed U.S. education system in need of a standardized approach to evaluate and effectively put students in a position to succeed, academically. Score distributions reveal less about the months of prep leading up to the test as they do about the years of general educational neglect before hand - the cracks are foundational. While it is an undeniable opportunity for underserved students to become undeniable applicants, it's a poor reflection of character, work ethic, and ability to endure in adverse circumstances. So what should we do with the SAT? 

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Do you know anyone who just watches the Superbowl for the love of the game anymore? As TV viewers decline across the board, the Big Game on the second Sunday of February remains a must watch event in sports, entertainment, and advertising, hooking the attention from everyone from die-hard sports fans to Swifties.

In this special episode, the full team, Brad, Sonika, and Gabriel play 'Monday Morning Quarterback' and take a social scientist's lens to some notable ads from the night (Pfizer's 'Here's to Science', Dove's 'It's a hard knock life', Google Pixel's 'Javier in Frame'). We also discuss what makes Superbowl ads so distinct from their much less desirable counterparts - everything from the strategy behind them to the viewers who are watching.

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 A rare disease diagnosis is the beginning of a journey of unknowns. From an HCPs ability to treat, to a caregivers' emotional burden, to a patient's sense of identity, there are a variety of factors that remain uncertain or unclear which makeup the unique challenge of having a rare disease.  

Despite the challenge, people living with rare disease persevere and form communities - real communities - they share advice and relatable experiences while staying emotionally invested in each other's success. They've laid the groundwork. Advancements in the treatment of rare disease are both transformative today and tomorrow. Now, we must figure out how we fit in to creating that success.  

Join us for this special edition as we begin preparing for Rare Disease Day (February 29) with Afshan Rizvi Hussain, Havas' own Global Rare Disease Lead.

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With January being Cervical Health Awareness month, we felt that this was a great time to breakdown the discussion around Gardasil, an HPV vaccine that can play a major role in curbing the incidence rates of cervical and a variety of other cancers. With that fact alone, Gardasil seems like a no-brainer, but as we explained in a previous episode, it's our irrational behaviors that make us human. Gardasil hasn't caught on as well as initially expected. Since it works best in those who haven't had sex yet, it has raised a highly-contested behavior science conundrum for parents that has deterred use of the vaccine: does vaccinating a preteen for a sexually transmitted infection implicitly give them permission to start having sex?

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Doctors are in distress, and pandemic is not the only cause. For decades, the role of the healer has been evolving (or devolving, depending on whom you ask), both in our imaginations and in the literal conditions of labor for doctors. For the first episode of the new year, Sonika and I sit down with Vernon Bainton MD, Chief Medical Officer of Havas Lynx in the UK and a keen observer of all things medical, to discuss the Healing the Healers initiative and the evolution of doctoring in today's fast-paced, tech driven medical practice.

Healing the Healers is a campaign developed by Havas Lynx powered by their proprietary Point.1 data. This unique dataset and ongoing analysis highlighted the staggering deterioration in healthcare professional wellbeing internationally and as a result the critical need for more effective and empathetic ways to communicate with HCPs.

Head over to the Havas Lynx website to read more: https://havaslynx.com/thought-leadership/healing-the-healers/

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Every January, millions of us resolve to reset and become a better version of ourselves. But where did New Year’s resolutions come from, and why do they so rarely stick? 

As the fervor behind the new year quiets, Sonika and Gabe take a moment to trace the evolution of the New Year’s resolution, from ancient Babylonian promises to the gods to today’s culture of self-optimization and burnout. They unpack how modern goal-setting became tangled with fear of failure and misplaced faith in willpower, and explore a radically simpler way forward.

Tiffany Teng also joins the discussion! Tiffany was a key contributor to Havas' recent GLP-1 report and shares insights on goal setting around the holidays. Check out our report Holidays in the GLP-1 Era here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=V1Xtx8ilNUSfq62nq83AG8XJvg801jdPt_lTqxsrFANUM0V…

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Use this link to view the video form of this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/havashealthandyou_onehavas-meaningfuldifference-breakingthecode-activity-7140365496129875968-ZpsM?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Have you ever thought about how we describe young people as "finding their way" and older people as "stuck in their ways"? Gen Z, currently a cohort entering young adulthood, is commonly referred as being the most progressive generation, but so were Millennials and Gen X when they were young adults. Conversations and findings about generations are often conflated with truths about life stages and aging. The idea that millennials are begrudgingly warming up to minivans is evidence of aging, not something unique to their generation--we all change when we form families and have a desire for more space. Gen X feeling that they're an ignored cohort in shadow of Baby Boomers, however, is unique and truly "generational" - a lifelong feeling that is tied to their life experiences in a way that other cohorts won't feel.
 
This very special episode is a celebration of 1 year of Breaking the Code. The full team, Brad, Sonika and Gabriel sit down in front of the camera to take the BS out of over-generalized discussions about generational cohorts and coming of age.
 
Thank you so much for listening to Breaking the Code in 2023! The feedback and discussion that comes from the episodes is a big part of why this is one of our favorite projects. We're breaking for the holidays and will be back with a new episode early in the new year.

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There isn't an official list of everything that's considered taboo, but somehow we all have an instinctual sense of words and topics that are off limits. We even try not to invoke the word of some taboos, like death, so we say things like "passing away", "biting the dust", "pushing up daisies", and more). However, healthcare environments are one of the few places where taboos are openly discussed, so it's crucial that we know the best way to navigate those situations.

In this episode we break down taboos, both cultural and universal. We broach a variety of taboos throughout, from mental health to the 3Ps, all so that we can derive solutions that aim to alleviate the shame that can come from having these uncomfortable conversations. These conversations are exceptionally critical to have in the health space, since the stigma and shame that result from overcoming taboos can serve as a life-threatening barrier between people and the help they need.

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Hair is defined as the "threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans and other mammals", but that does not begin to describe the social significance of your hair. Color, cut, and style are all part of a shared but often tacit set of rules and expectations, and the social evaluation of your hair (or your children's hair) is perceived as speaking volumes about your beliefs and place in a given culture or community. You can't avoid it: how you wear your hair says something about you, and losing your hair to a disease like alopecia robs you of that ability to "speak through your hair". 

In this episode we discuss key findings from a semiotic study of hair, the kind of analysis we do on a regular basis to study the visual signs in a given therapeutic or social sphere. e love doing these analyses because they uncover human truths in aspects of life that hide in plain sight, right before our eyes - or for this episode - right on top of our heads.

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"Task overload", or the related concepts of "information overload" and "task saturation", is a term developed to describe what happens when there is simply too much for our brains to do--a common occurrence in airline emergencies, spacecraft emergencies, and, unfortunately, everyday work loads in our modern medical systems. The consequences of task saturation are well understood,  lead to very poor decision making and leave very little room for interpersonal engagement, as the overwhelmed brain looks inwards for answers and shuts out further external engagement. This leads, inevitably, to plane crashes, space disasters, and, sadly, disconnected healthcare. 

Join us for this special edition as we discuss task saturation in healthcare with Havas' own Elisabetta Grioni, Chief Medical and Strategy Officer of Havas Life Milan, the impact of task saturation on the mental health of providers, and the impact of task overload on women in particular. 

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Wanting "more" of anything we like seems to be a default human setting, even to the point of problematic excess. A packed closet means we have clothes to wear, an overstuffed fridge means we can eat, and a full wallet means we can buy even more of whatever we please. When Mae West famously said "too much of a good thing is wonderful", she probably wasn't thinking of a world awash in plastic garbage and a juvenile diabetes crisis that has sharps containers in middle schools throughout the US. This default heuristic that "more is better" has a counterpoint in "less is more", which is both paradoxical and a rallying cry for those who believe in "moderate consumption" throughout history (Lisa Kondo is not the originator of the minimalist aesthetic). 

Listen as we discuss both phrases and provide instances where more is more but where less is also more. The key is in the value framing of what's being offered and in making sure we are communicating what we gain--even with "less", the reward is "more". 

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Death is an inevitable part of the human experience--OUR experience. But speaking about death, specifically how we want to spend our last months and days on earth when illness makes the end both visible and inevitable, is challenging. We find ourselves struggling to overcome taboos and other cultural and personal barriers to communication, and that leads, many think, to a large number of "bad" ICU deaths. 

Listen as we discuss the thoughts and conversations that do (and don't) occur when a someone is near death. You'll hear the thinking behind doctors resistance to telling patients that they're going to die and learn why we, as communication experts, should understand the varying priorities of someone at the end of their life

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When designing interventions to improve the doctor-patient visit, we often forget that, in some sense, all doctor-patient conversations are cross-cultural. Doctors literally embody the clinic itself, as both its representatives and agents, whereas the patients simply represent themselves and their needs. When designing communication strategies for these interactions, we need to consider a patient's life experiences, culture, and health literacy, which includes things like expectations for how a "good doctor" will act and what their role is supposed to be. Power differentials are inherent in the engagement, and we need to account for this, as well--not every patient is comfortable "challenging" doctors or other institutional figures in the course of a medical interview, and if our interventions require that, they will fail for those patients. Patients that defer to a doctor's expertise need to be accounted for as much as patients that are looking for open dialogue about their treatment.

In this episode, Brad recalls 3 anecdotes from doctor-patient interactions that he has previously observed. Each doctor is distinct but beloved by their patients, and each story reveals another layer into how we, as communication experts, should approach thinking about these interactions. Brad and Sonika dive into each of these stories and uncover insights related to regional cultures, power dynamics, and an inclusive method for doctors to meet any patient where they are. 

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Trust in relationships, business, personal or otherwise, is built in large part on perceptions of honesty, which we gauge based on the perceived intent of the person in that relationship. It's more difficult for some to be seen as honest because of their perception as liars, someone who makes untrue claims, or worse, a palterer, someone who uses the truth dishonestly.

Listen as Brad and Sonika discuss "paltering", a relatively uncommon term to describe a form of misleading behavior where one hides the truth by telling part, but not all, of the truth, with the intent of hiding the larger truth. Paltering is a rare word but a very common practice, one we as marketers engage in daily, and while lying-while-not-exactly-lying can feel more honest, to the receiver, it is as bad for building trust as outright lying, if not worse. 

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Including your audience into the development process, with intentionality, is key in designing effective initiatives, campaigns, and products that do justice for them. Bringing the right people to the table is only the start - the hard part is incorporating their truths into an end result that properly represents them. The term inclusive design is becoming more popular, which is great, but it's essential, to groups that have been excluded for so long, that you're doing it right.

Please enjoy this special 40 minute episode as we speak with Allison Ceraso (HH+) and Andre Gray (Annex88) on the nuances of inclusive design, where it stands today and how to move it forward.

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A doctor's dismissal of symptoms can be devastating for a patient. We know it's a problem, but what do we call it? There's a variety issues that's could be at the root of this dismissal. The answer may be Medical gaslighting - or it may not.

Listen as we discuss the rapidly increasing prevalence of the term "Medical gaslighting", and how use of the term, due to its connotation, inadvertently accuses doctors of having malicious intent to mislead patients.

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In this episode, Sonika and Gabe explore how pain is experienced differently across bodies and interpreted differently in conversations, with a focus on people living with Sickle Cell Disease. This conversation dips into acute and chronic pain, highlighting the challenge health communicators face in bringing the unseen aspects of someone's pain to light. This episode was recorded in October 2025.

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We've all been in situations where our actions don't perfectly align with who we purport to be - to ourselves or others. These inconsistencies are much easier to spot in other people, like a nurse who treats with one philosophy and teaches at-home treatment with another or a patient in pain who doesn't fill the prescription given to them for that pain.

Listen as we discuss cognitive dissonance, values in conflict and, ultimately, why our incoherent behavior means we are complicated, not crazy.

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Everyone in advertising is aware that our job is to "create emotional connections" with our audiences. While emotion is unarguably a strong driver of behavior change, emotion based interventions only work when we are able to correctly identify true emotions --this is something that our industry struggles with when it comes to doctors. 

 Doctor's emotions are not simply a mirror of their patient's emotions, nor are they always even related. Listen as we sit down with this week's guest, chief strategy officer Andrew Gardner, as we discuss how doctors actually feel, BS assumptions that are often made about how we think they feel, and approaches to insight generation that will help us get to more a more accurate understanding. 

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You are not part of a community just because someone tells you so, but when understood correctly, insight into communities is a great way to connect with people. To accurately group people into communities, we need to understand, from them, where they see a connection between themselves and others. Community influence and one's sense of belonging is key to drive behavior change, but if we miss the mark on how, to both understand the concept of community, as well as how to assess one's belonging to community, we end up with failed communication attempts and behavior change efforts. 

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While the US surgeon general’s recent Advisory on the US “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” came, for many, out of the blue, the exact phrase “epidemic of loneliness” has been in use for a while now to describe the growing alienation felt by many during this period of technology-driven disruption. Modern industrial life is centered on a mobile individual and it is this focus that has lead many medical systems to recognize that loneliness not only kills, but that it can be prevented through prescribing social interactions. Join us as we discuss the implications of “medicalizing” loneliness and the importance of social connectivity.

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It is common practice at marketing agencies to use transcripts as a means of understanding research that has taken place. However, if you want to really understand what happened in an interview, don't rely on transcripts. They are excellent at giving you a sense of vocabulary, and not much else. 

Join us as we discuss how we should, and shouldn't, be using transcripts.

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In this episode we sit down with Damien Escobar, Emmy Award winning violist and  Director of Music and Culture at Havas, to talk about the role of music in healthcare communications, his role in transforming the music we choose for our work, and the unique ways music can connect with people about difficult topics. 

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Not every behavior change intervention goes to plan, and in this podcast we talk about what happens when poorly thought out social-science or behavior change interventions are launched into the wild. It's one thing to have no measurable effect, but it's entirely another to have the opposite of your intended effect on behavior at large. Join us as we talk D.A.R.E., incentivizing people to get vaccinated, and other "backfires" in behavior change.

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When behavior change is on the table, the concept of "nudges" has become a go-to discussion point for every planning session. What IS a nudge, and how is it different from other forms of behavioral change support? And... is it just plain old nagging?

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Modern medical practice has focused on the identification and treatment of biological processes, to great success but at the cost of human engagement. We focus on "disease" as a biological process, but often fail to address the human suffering from that disease. In social sciences, we call this the difference between "disease", the biological process, and "illness", the experience of living with a disease. 

In this episode we explore the concepts of “disease” versus “illness”, what makes them different, how the modern practice dynamic leads to a focus on the former and the increasing exclusion of the latter. We discuss how we, as communications experts, are perfectly positioned to bridge the divide and “fill the gap” between biology and personal experience.

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Segmentation studies, those famously dense reports that outline the differences between 'target audiences', are part and parcel of daily life in advertising. In theory, they help us understand what drives our audiences and connect with them on a meaningful level. In practice, many of these studies create a picture of an alternate universe people by caricatures of our audiences, filled with "doctors who dabble" and "enthusiastic enablers" whose lives revolve around our products. Join us as we discuss just what segmentation studies get right, and wrong, in the modern practice of advertising.

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In Breaking the Code's 50th episode, we are joined by our 2025 summer intern, Gabriel Robinson (GR), not to be confused with Gabriel Allen-Cummings (GA). This conversation began because of GR's curiosity about social media being used for self-diagnosis, and it evolved to cover HCPs on social media, generational nuances in social media use, and the emergence of AI as a comprehensive caregiver.

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When put in charge of 'making someone do something', it is always tempting to resort to fear tactics--scaring people is a direct way of motivating them, the effects are clear and immediate, and we all know the kinds of things that scare people. This is why 'let's scare them' tactics and strategies are so popular, and why we are often asked as marketers to "show consequences" or "create fear". But fear is a poor long term motivator, and is ill advised as a marketing strategy in most cases; it's also damaging to scare people, and is widely seen as unethical. 

Join us as we discuss why fear is almost always not the answer.

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Pharmaceutical advertising is nothing if not, well, repetitive. If you see a commercial that starts with someone walking on a beach, with a dog, dressed in best “coastal grandma” fashion, odds are you’ll assume (correctly) someone is going to talk about a healthcare brand or condition. Diabetes, lung cancer, depression, birth control—you name it, someone on a beach is representing it in an ad. Why we see so much of the same imagery over and over, what this does to impact and efficiency of advertising, and how we should re-think our processes for creating this imagery is all part of our newest installment of Breaking the Code.  

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If you work in communications, you probably have noticed that the word "heuristics" has been popping up a lot lately, mostly in discussions of "drivers of behavior". While the concept of heuristics is very helpful in understanding human decision making (or habitual non-decision making, like ordering the same coffee every day), it isn't the only way to understand drivers of human behavior, and it certainly isn't the only way to "optimize copy". 

Understanding what heuristics are, and more importantly what they are not, is critical to the work we do as behavior change professionals. Join us as we discuss heuristics, how they help us understand certain forms of behavior and choice preference, and the contexts within which heuristics are useful.

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Discussion guides, those documents packed with detailed questions and sub-questions that can go on forever, are at the  heart of many research crimes. As marketers we rely on research-derived insights to build our strategic and creative outputs, but our ideas are only as good as the research behind them. Bad discussion guides, the bad processes that create them, and the bad luck for a moderator who is told "ask every question exactly as written", set us up for failure from the start.

Research is a practice, and like any practice it can be learned and improved. If the discussion guide is the driver of a lot of bad IDI research, then there must be a better way. Join us to uncover what makes a discussion guide stink, why we shouldn't even call them discussion guides, and how with a few tricks you can create guides that actually facilitate better interviews and better insight generation.

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