Where would journalists be without good tips?
It wasn’t long after the AHCJ website increased its focus on LGBT health issues, as part of its core topic section on social determinants of health, that a tip floated in with kudos for some pieces that Lisa Esposito of U.S. News & World Report had written on the issue (notably, the tip was from one of her editors).
Esposito, who focuses on patient advice for the publication, had written some stories about what LGBT patients should consider when searching for providers, as well as challenges facing transgender patients when finding health care. But her stories also look at other patient populations, such as the elderly.
At AHCJ workshops and other events, I regularly hear from members about how challenging it can be to connect with patients in certain demographic groups, which is especially important for reporters covering health disparities and socials determinants of health. It’s an area where being able to drill down to a particular set of people or conditions can be critical in explaining how certain factors can affect the health of specific populations.
I asked Esposito to pull together some tips for AHCJ members in this new tipsheet.
For more tips on connecting with patients, be sure to attend the Health Journalism 2016 panel “Reaching out to real people: Tools to humanize stories,” on Sunday, April 10.
