Guest posting by Kylie Balotin
Our Medical Media Arts course often talks about patient engagement, but this is not the only area where engagement needs to occur. A few weeks ago I attended a lecture over the coverage of infectious diseases by the media at Baker Institute at Rice University. One of the major topics that stuck with me the most after listening to the speakers was the idea that scientists need to become more engaged with the public. As an aspiring biomedical researcher, I have never given much thought to what the job would entail other than trying to make new discoveries about topics that I’m interested in and getting published in scientific journals. Is there more to this profession than that?
Both of the speakers argued that there is. One speaker began his segment by stating that most Americans cannot identify a living scientist and that even fewer Americans can name a center of biomedical research. This is sad because there is so much great work being done in the scientific community. We are learning more new things about the world we live in and medicine every day, yet there is still a lot of misinformation being spread in the public. For example, there were a lot of misconceptions surrounding the Ebola cases in the United States, which scientists and medical professionals could have done more to correct rather than having the reporters and congressmen sensationalize this disease. It was not enough for scientists to just have tiny segments during news reports; they needed to speak out more in order to make sure that the public understood how Ebola could be transmitted and how the disease worked.
Scientists are missing out on great opportunities to spread knowledge and correct misinformation. According to a Pew Report from 2013, medical professionals and scientists are in the top five most esteemed professions by the public (Street et al.). They have a large influence over society, and the people will trust them when they speak out about issues. Unfortunately, scientists largely find themselves caught in a cycle of applying for grants and conducting research, and they don’t often take the time to engage with the public regularly. According to another Pew Report from 2015, about 20% scientists regularly talk to reporters and less than 50% of scientists regularly communicate through social media (Rainie et al.). Scientists who believe that the public is interested in their research or that their research is involved in debates on the media are more likely to speak out about their research, but the percentage of engaged scientists still remain low (only 44% of scientists whose research has at least some debate in the media speaks often with citizens) (Rainie et al.). Within the biomedical field specifically, only 35% often talk to citizens, 19% often talk to reporters, 48% use social media, and 21% blog( Rainie et al.). This is extremely low considering all the research that is being conducted in this field and how much health affects everyone’s lives.
It’s time for scientists to start speaking to the public more often. We need to learn how to communicate effectively in terms that the general public can understand and ways that we can communicate to the public more often. Scientists are not limited to just speaking to reporters; they can utilize the Internet and forms of social media to help spread information while still conducting research. Scientists have the ability to educate the public with correct knowledge, but they are limited by the fact that they do not speak out often enough. It is not enough to only conduct research; it is not enough to wait for news outlets to approach us; it is not enough to hope the public in interested and engaged enough to look up our research. It is time to start incorporating engaging with the public often into scientific careers.
References
Rainie, Lee et al. “How Scientists Engage.” Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
Street, 1615 L. et al. “Public Esteem for Military Still High.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.