A thread on our team message board about what 2022 holds for patients, for healthcare and for our working lives has become a lively and fascinating exchange. It’s too good to keep to ourselves, so we’re sharing what everyone had to say below.
We hope you’ll enjoy the variety of perspectives and priorities that these 19 Difference consultants chose to express in their own voices.
These diverse opinions and experiences spring from our everyday work, life and curiosity about healthcare. Do they resonate with you or spark inspiration for the projects you’re tackling right now? Or do you disagree – or have more to add?
Please add your views on social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) to make the discussion even richer and help us expand our understanding.
The way the general population views and engages with science and health has really changed. People like JVT have shown the way in how we talk about the power of science and improve storytelling.
I think there could be an open door for companies that choose to be more open, innovative and human in the way they do things. Maria Potter
We’ve learned to adapt and put up with a whole load of emotional rubbish in 20/21. There are two ways that can go: we’ll see burnout and flight, and we’ll see reinvention, bravery and striking out on the things we’ve always wanted to do. That’s great for people who are well, but what about the sick? Will we now see an even greater division between the health “haves” and the “have nots”? And how can companies, brands and governments bring radical resolution? Lou Watson
There’s a popular belief that omnichannel marketing is the answer to everything. And when it’s done well it is really clever and pretty amazing. But it also feels so far from the customer and can be really complex to understand, especially around a busy congress. We need to keep that in mind. Ben Strutt
I’ve seen a lot of traditional healthcare agencies trying to keep working in the same way, but virtually – and it just doesn’t work. The fact that people have been forced to work virtually and have done it for nearly two years doesn’t mean they are suited to it, can do it, or like it.
Whereas here, we’re all self-starters who always intended to work differently, we know how to work as a virtual team and manage our time efficiently. Charlotte Messer
There’s a growing mountain of PPE filling landfills and our waterways. How does society talk about this, figure out our own individual responsibilities, without waiting for Governments to regulate? It’s part of a wider discussion around the wider impact healthcare has on the planet. Is ‘patient centricity’ the nemesis of “Clean Health”? Roberto Gallo
Many people are feeling fatigued, lethargic and well, a bit lost. As someone who has always thrived on bringing people together, I’m aghast at the extent to which I am just settling for the mundanity of daily life and mentally closing down potential opportunities for meet-ups with friends and family, pre-empting them telling me they won’t want to because of COVID-related reasons. This extends to work too. I’m making a conscious effort to try and embrace more spontaneous and frequent get-togethers.
Lisa Harper
I’m seei
ng a lot of my clients struggling to fill newly created roles, or replace people that have left. Attracting the right talent is a key theme at the moment, with clients wanting to major on building their “employer brand” this year. Alexandra Harrison
The general public is now much more health literate. We’ve all become our own labs, after all, doing LFTs at home. Communicating in a new way to acknowledge that is important, I think. I’m talking to pharma execs in media training about engaging people on a more human level, on a less techy level, so they’re engaged, interested and – most importantly – can understand what they’re being told and can act on it. Jo Willey
For workers who were kept very busy during Covid, there’s a sense of ennui now that things are settling down – “here we go again” and “what next?” Not everyone wants a complete career or life change, but I think people crave refreshing and engaging work – shorter projects, interesting tasks and diverse teams. Collectives, agencies and employers who can keep working life varied and flexible might get the best from their people and do better at retaining them. Charlie Hobson
Some of the kids in my family are just finishing their studies, and the combination of COVID and Brexit is making it really difficult for them as young people to think big and be adventurous at a time of their lives when they should be feeling free and dreaming big. I’m trying to keep being encouraging and want to inspire them, but also want to help them be realistic. It’s a challenge, and I think there are similar issues for us at work, balancing ambition and what’s achievable. Lisa Brockwell
Women’s health will remain important, with many 
different sectors becoming invested. The need to create a work culture of wellbeing, where everyone can thrive, avoid imbalance, and offer flexibility is becoming a necessity, not a nice to have.
Victoria Harper
From a social media perspective, vertical videos and platforms like TikTok are becoming the main areas of focus. You know the industry is shifting when Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, conceded that rival TikTok is currently outperforming their platform.
This means that we are also moving away from beautiful, unattainable curated content. After two years of lockdowns and working from home, people are tired of seeing influencers promoting a photoshopped life with expensive products. Claire Delplancq
We need to help facilitate a return to normal for the health service, which has shouldered an unfair burden of the pandemic and which has seen services stretched or in some cases completely stopped. Medical research has also suffered as a result, and there are many for whom recommencement of normal research outside of Covid would be welcome. Anna Gray
There’s increasing demand amongst the public to increase their digital and scientific literacy, but I think some organisations are falling behind in optimising their own internal knowledge and content around this.
Anneliese Levy
We need to be mindful in this digital age of whether older, poorer or less able people have access to information, or if they rely on carers for it. My mum’s (UK) surgery switched to booking telephone appointments via their website… so now I have to book her appointment online from Canada (where I live) so she can speak to them, when they’re based about a mile away from her. Clare Evans
The HCPs I spend a lot of time engaging with are desperate to get back to face-to-face contact for all those important conversations.
John Applegate
Readjusting and getting the right balance of digital vs other channels after having the world thrown into a default of Zooms and reliance on screen-based communication is an interesting challenge for us and our clients as we adapt to post-pandemic comms.
Julie Saunders
I think there are some groups that are being left behind from a digital literacy perspective. Not only people who don’t have any technology – but for lots of people, there’s a big gap between having a device, and being able to use it effectively for anything beyond making calls, sending WhatsApps and taking photos.
We need to think about people’s skills and what we do to support them when it comes to app-based healthcare. June Dawson
I hope this year will see a lot more people being more adventurous (already there’s a spike in people looking into extreme and outdoor sports!), kinder to each other (away from polarising social media debates) and more open to new opportunities and experiences.
Christos Pishias
Want more? If you’d like to read a beautifully curated summary of the top five insights from these views and observations, check out Stuart Mayell’s Trending Towards 2022 article.
