What Biden's Cancer Diagnosis Teaches Us About Health Communication
The c-word is never an easy diagnosis to receive. But it’s especially challenging when the rest of the world feels entitled to an opinion about it, despite having limited or no understanding of the facts.
I recently shared my family’s experience with a cancer diagnosis, and the media fallout from President Biden’s announcement has stirred up a lot for us.
Any diagnosis, whether it’s cancer, a sexually transmitted infection (STI), or another chronic condition, reveals parallels in how we approach and communicate about health.
As my family navigates our own cancer diagnosis, here are three things I’ve been thinking about:
1. When you share a diagnosis, suddenly everyone becomes an expert
People usually mean well. But the moment you open up about a diagnosis, you’re often met with unsolicited advice, Google “facts,” wellness influencer “cures”, and personal stories about who knows best and why.
Even with good intentions, people tend to prioritize their own need to be helpful (or feel helpful) over the actual needs of the person and family impacted. Sometimes, this is driven by the discomfort of accepting the realities of illness or death, like with cancer.
Instead of pushing back and playing expert people need a listening ear, respect for privacy and nuance, and actual support.
This is especially true for stigmatized health conditions like herpes or other STIs, where people’s reactions and understandings are shaped more by social narratives than science.
2. People will believe what they want to believe—even when confronted with facts
We see this constantly. Science and research data take a backseat to personal beliefs and biases. Misinformation spreads rapidly, especially when fueled by media headlines and political agendas. Correcting the record becomes an uphill battle, even when the truth is as clear as the sky is blue.
Unfortunately, once a diagnosis enters the public realm of conversation, the facts don’t always win.
3. Health diagnoses are misunderstood, and the media often makes them worse
There’s a wide gap between how health conditions are discussed and what it actually means to live with them. That gap is often filled with misinformation, shame, and fear. Especially when media coverage leans on speculation rather than accuracy or empathy.
With each passing year, I’ve learned which events trigger headlines about rising STIs, from Coachella to annual STI reports, the media is likely to spin stories out of control in favor of clicks.
President Biden’s cancer diagnosis came within a week of my father’s. It was a visceral reminder that no one is immune to life-altering health diagnoses, even the people you think of as invincible.
How we respond to these announcements, whether to people we know or people we know of, has a larger ripple effect on the conversations we have about health and how safe we make people and their loved ones feel.
I hope that I’ll one day live in a world where the first response to a diagnosis is “How can I help?” and not “Have you tried…?”
A world where we listen more than we lecture.
A world where we find comfort in moments heavy on silence and emotion.
A world where saying I don’t know is the default.
A world where someone’s personal story means more than a headline.