Today’s Telegraph contains a report of a new study which suggests that children given Calpol just once a month are 5 times more at risk of developing asthma.
We undertook some research recently talking to mums about their childrens’ health - and the findings reflected an increasingly complex picture of how mums evaluate information and decide who to trust.
Not so long ago the GP and the pharmacist were seen as God: their advice was accepted almost without question.
These days there are brands, friends, healthcare professionals, forums, media and more – all generating information, advice and opinion, and collectively creating a situation where patients and parents are on the one hand ‘empowered’ but on the other plain confused about exactly what to do or who to follow in any given situation.
We’re all aware of the massive impact that the (now established as erroneous) link between the MMR vaccine and autism had on individuals’ behaviour. And it’s easy with hindsight to counsel against a knee jerk reaction, but of course when it’s a potential risk to your child then that’s easier said than done.
Add in the notorious difficulty all but a few of us have with unravelling the exact meaning of the statistics used in such articles (70% increased risk is quoted in this article but the base level risk is not cited) and one wonders about just what is the best position brands can take in responding to the miasma of noise surrounding their products.
Take Calpol – there are 10 pages of threads om Mumsnet relating to Calpol and the Asthma research artificial on today's daily mail website is already sprouting comments ranging from derision to despair.
There are no easy answers for brands of course, but stories such as these are a useful reminder of the challenge and the importance of staying close to the conversations that are happening amongst consumers in order to hit the right note when we want to say something ourselves.
It’s too early to say how this particular story will play out, but it’s useful context to glance to the left of it on the Daily Mail web page where another article is headed one in ten sausages carry the hepatitis virus.
So for those of you planning a ten sausage banquet this evening, I guess the question is ‘do you feel lucky?’!
