Hispanic Health Care Advertising

Guest commentary: Smokers need not apply

It has been a difficult time recently for smokers. Reports that the FDA issued new, more graphic warning labels and images for tobacco packaging followed on the heels of a report that SSM Health Care, a large health care provider in the St. Louis area, will not consider job applications from smokers.

SSM's hiring policy is not discriminatory. Federal and state anti-discriminatory laws are intended to protect individuals in narrowly defined groups. These groups are identifiable by one or more immutable characteristics, such as ethnicity or having a disability. The theory behind these anti-discrimination laws is simple: Our society should not tolerate prejudice based upon characteristics that are outside the volition of the individual — one did not choose to be disabled anymore than one chose to be Hispanic. Traditionally, these groups lacked sufficient political or social power to protect themselves, thus, protective laws were created. Stiff penalties exist to punish employers who hire or fire workers based upon these group characteristics.

Being a smoker is not a recognized group in need of protection for two key reasons.

First, regardless of a smoker's addiction to nicotine, at some point, beginning to use tobacco, regardless of peer-pressure, social norms or enticing advertising, was a personal choice. Second, smokers are not a socially or politically disadvantaged group that laws need to protect. Smoking cuts across all segments of society and includes people from all walks of life and all demographics.

Missouri anti-discrimination laws support this position. Unlike other states in which policies against hiring smokers have been successfully challenged in courts, Missouri law permits SSM's policy.

But is SSM's policy ethical? Assuming that by ethical we mean supportive of individuals and society's endeavor to seek out the human flourishing, or the "good life," as described by Aristotle and his ilk, the policy is ethical. SSM has a duty as a provider of health care to provide quality health care and, as an organization, to embody the ideals (or virtues, according to Aristotle) they espouse. A policy against hiring individuals with blue hair has no rational bearing on SSM's organizational mission or on promoting the good life, and would thus be unethical. Encouraging employees to develop healthful habits, and enforcing those habits, is a necessary and ethically justifiable position by SSM.

As a private organization, SSM has more latitude in policing the personal lives of its employees than a public employer, such as state government. This assumes that the activities the employer chooses to police have a direct and identifiable relationship to the mission of the organization and do not run afoul of other existing laws.

New PSAs Target Hispanic Healthcare | GoodWorks - Advertising Age

The Ad Council this week launched a new PSA campaign, "Conoce las Preguntas" -- "Know the Questions" -- to encourage Hispanics to get more involved in their healthcare and to talk to their doctors.

The multimedia effort, created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality , was produced pro bono by New York-based Revolucion Hispanic Communications . Aliza Lifshitz, M.D., editor-in-chief of VidaySalud.com and host of Univision radio's weekly "El Consultorio de la Dra. Aliza," is also participating.

The campaign includes TV, radio, print and Web ads. In addition, a mobile website is being created. Users will be able to opt in to receive biweekly text alerts with useful healthcare information.

PSAs, which are being distributed to 2,500 Spanish-language media stations in the U.S., offer Hispanics tips on how to prepare for medical appointments by deciding what questions they want to ask their doctors. Viewers are directed to the ARHQ website for suggestions on what to ask and for health information in Spanish.

The campaign is designed to support the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, the department's first strategic action plan to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S.

According to AHRQ's recently published 2010 National Healthcare Disparities Report, Hispanics tend to seek medical advice from friends, co-workers and casual acquaintances rather than going to the doctor. Some said they avoid asking doctors questions out of respect or because they feel intimidated or embarrassed. "Getting a diagnosis from a doctor rather than guesses from co-workers, friends and others is a key to good health and good healthcare," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., in announcing the effort. "While Hispanics face challenges in getting access to healthcare services and a higher rate of uninsurance, good communication with healthcare professionals is one step they can take to improve their health and healthcare quality.

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