By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Featured in USATODAY.com | Grand Rounds – Health Tips American Heart Month may be officially over, but don’t let the lack of media attention fool you into thinking heart disease isn’t a critical issue. We still need to be mindful of the fact that heart disease is the number one killer of women. There are simple lifestyle choices you can make to help prevent you from heart disease. I…
Read More...Beyond the Captivating Headlines: How to Make Sense of a Health News Story
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Is the health news story accurate? Did a recent study prove that coffee may lower the risk of stroke? How was it reported? Writing magnetic headlines are required for any writer. After all, headlines capture your attention and at that moment you will decide whether to read the piece or not. According to Copyblogger, “On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out…
Read More...HuffPost Readers Comments and Concerns-BPA Plastic Bottles: Are They Safe?
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA My recent blog on The Huffington Post, “BPA Plastic Bottles: Are They Safe?” elicited insightful thoughts and concerns from the readers. Do you worry that harmful chemicals leach out of plastic containers into its contents? Are plastic containers toxic? Do you drink from plastic water bottles? Are you concerned about the safety of plastics? Here are a few of the comments from The Huffington Post: (Total Comments: 50) Acleacius…
Read More...Health Journalism: Have we reached new lows?
Guest post by Gary Schwitzer It doesn’t get much worse than this in health journalism; NY Daily News finds new lows By Gary Schwitzer [Original post published on Gary Schwitzer’s HealthNewsReview Blog, July 13, 2010 and reprinted with permission from Gary Schwitzer.] I know that many people just dismiss the New York Daily News, but you can’t dismiss the number of readers it has and the potential impact its stories may have on them –…
Read More...Gary Schwitzer Notes Some Gems in Health News Reporting
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA In my post from Tuesday, June 15, 2010, “Digging Deep: The 411 Behind Medical News Headlines,” Gary Schwitzer, publisher at HealthNewsReview.org offers vital information for health consumers to help them identify accurate and balanced news reporting. Subsequent to publishing that post, Gary Schwitzer published his list of gems that shine among the rubble of daily health news. Gary admires the individuals, teams and news organizations responsible for these stories….
Read More...