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Bettering Health Outcomes Through Peer Support at Mayo Clinic

Published: Dec. 20, 2021, 10:30 a.m.

Do you have a 60-second pitch for your community? In this episode of Community Signal,\xa0Colleen Young, community director for\xa0Mayo Clinic, raises the challenge of being able to deliver a concise and impactful pitch to other leaders at the nonprofit. \u201cI\u2019m just imagining finding myself in the elevator with this leader by happenstance and being able to finally say something just in two floors that we have. It\u2019s really hard to be able to know what is going to motivate them to be excited about the community. I\u2019m really struggling with that,\u201d explains Young. Many, if not all of us, have been in a situation like this, whether we were helping to onboard a new leader or in an impromptu meeting.\xa0

This conversation is a bit longer than 60 seconds, but in it, Colleen delivers a very compelling case for Mayo Clinic Connect. The community\u2019s moderation practices and active participation makes it less of a haven for misinformation. And when misinformation does appear, expert testimonials and active participants within the community help inform and correct. The community also comes together to help people understand their options for care and to manage their symptoms. \u201cPeer support can better health outcomes,\u201d says Young. The community also has a direct impact on Mayo Clinic\u2019s livelihood \u2013 as it can be a direct driver of appointment bookings and visits.

So, the next time you\u2019re thinking about how to pitch your community to another colleague, think about the value that it brings to your members and how that value leads to positive outcomes for the business. And as Patrick says, don\u2019t be afraid to ask for more time to advocate for the community and your work!

Colleen and Patrick also discuss:

Why Mayo Clinic Connect measures appointments as a metric
Has medical misinformation actually gotten worse over the last 15 years?
Developing your 60-second community pitch

Our Podcast is Made Possible By\u2026

If you enjoy our show, please know that it\u2019s only possible with the generous support of our sponsor:\xa0Hivebrite, the community engagement platform.

Big Quotes

How Mayo Clinic Connect approaches misinformation\xa0(3:07):\xa0\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of misinformation that\u2019s not with malintent. That\u2019s the part [where] I think online communities can do a lot of good, in that sometimes it\u2019s just misunderstandings, and the self-correcting nature of online communities in health is really quite amazing if you have a healthy, active community.\u201d \u2013@colleen_young

Patient connection can improve health outcomes\xa0(14:14):\xa0\u201cOn the patient portal, patients are reporting how they\u2019re managing the side effects of cancer treatment. If they\u2019re severe, they get triaged to a nurse. If they\u2019re moderate-to-mild, they get triaged, as a prescription, to the community because they know through community support that they can help manage those side effects. That is the clinicians really giving a hat tip to the community, knowing that peer support can better health outcomes.\u201d \u2013@colleen_young

On launching a community strictly for research\xa0(16:28):\xa0\u201c[There have been] researchers really interested in peer support online, so they would create a community in order to study the community. \u2026 It was terribly frightening, I have to tell you. They were creating these communities, bringing people together somehow \u2026 [and] when the grant was over, pulling the plug. They had managed to connect some people and essentially left them high and dry.\u201d \u2013@colleen_young

About Colleen Young

Colleen\xa0Young is an online community strategist, recognized for her expertise in building online health communities. Clients include Mayo Clinic, College of Family Physicians Canada, Canadian Virtual Hospice, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, Hjernerystelsesforeningen Denmark, EURODIS, and more. As community director for Mayo Clinic Connect, a virtual community connecting patients with each other and to Mayo Clinic medical expertise,\xa0Colleen\xa0believes online connectivity is arguably the most exciting innovation of the patient-led health era. As a tenacious connector of patients,\xa0Colleen\xa0demonstrates how an active community, strategically managed, can re-imagine health care and improve health outcomes.