Why do we do the things we do? Outside of a lab, therapist’s office or university philosophy department, observing our own actions and pondering what they say about us is a useful, healthy, human activity. But if what you urgently need is for that person to reply to the email you just sent (the fourth in as many days), peaceful introspection gives way to the more immediate, infuriating question of: ‘Why won’t this other person do what I want them to do?’
Perhaps you’ll try the ‘carrot-and-stick’ approach. In your fifth email, you present the carrot, outlining all the ways in which the recipient will benefit from whatever proposal they are (ineptly, inexplicably) ignoring. By the sixth email, you’re cross. The stick comes out, underlined and in bold: do what I’m asking or there will be consequences.
But before you hit ‘send’ on either, David Halpern, CEO of the Behavioural Insights Team, has an alternative proposition: the ‘nudge’.
The nudge isn’t a reward or a threat, but an applied form of behavioural economics. Perhaps the problem is that you worded your proposal badly - something you see as brilliance, they perceive simply as hassle. Or perhaps it’s a question of office culture: no-one else (they think) replies promptly to emails, so why should they? Subtly removing these obstacles by playing on human behaviour is what nudging is all about.
In the field of healthcare, the Behavioural Insights Team has already put nudging to good use. One challenge for surgeries across the UK is missed appointments. Despite automated text message reminders, a large number of patients still miss their slots with GPs, wasting doctors' time and blocking appointments that could have instead gone to punctual people. David Halpern’s team found a solution in the nudge.
“We found that the most successful message included a line which told patients that 'Not attending [your appointment] costs the NHS £160 approx',” says BIT’s Hannah Burd. “This message reduced missed appointments by 25% compared to the original message used by the hospital. The original message simply told patients the date and time of their upcoming appointment." The message worked better than telling patients '9 out of 10 patients attend' and that any missed appointments would be recorded by the hospital.
In an NHS too strapped to bribe anyone, tending to patients who don’t like to be threatened, could nudging offer a third way to keep people healthy, costs down and surgeries full?
What is your biggest pet peeve about the health industry and why?
We spend the vast majority of our health research funds on technological solutions, and only a tiny fraction on the behavioural issues that are essential to making those technologies work. When we do fund research on how health systems work, this is incredibly slow and bureaucratic - the problems have changed by the time the funding arrives.
What will the health industry look like within 12-18 months?I think we will see a significant minority of people access healthcare directly through their smartphones. I think NICE will have had to launch a bold new way of trying to ensure that the most evidence-based health apps are also the most popular ones.
What are you most excited about at WIRED Health this year?I think Dame Sally Davies is doing fantastic work to ensure the world takes action on antimicrobial resistance.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
