Can I include a patient example in my article?

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Sound familiar?

"Can I mention a patient we treated?" "Is a case study allowed?" "What does it mean by an example from my practice?"

The short answer

Yes, and it's one of the best things you can add. 🩺 A short example from your own practice, in your own words, shows real first-hand experience. Patients notice it, and so do Google and AI tools. No research can write it for you, which is exactly why it's worth so much.

What to write

Either of these works well:

• What you usually see. "We often see runners who have pushed through knee pain for months before they come in."
• An anonymised example from your practice. The kind of patient, what you found and what you did. "A desk worker in her forties came in with neck pain and headaches. We found stiffness in her upper neck and worked on that alongside her desk set-up."

A few sentences is plenty. Plain speech is fine.

What to leave out

• Names, and anything that could identify the person (their job title, their club, their street, a rare detail).
• The patient's own words. No quotes.
• How it turned out for them. Don't write "she was pain-free in three weeks".

Why we ask it this way

In Australia and New Zealand, a patient's result counts as a testimonial, and testimonials aren't allowed in health advertising. We use the same rule in every country, so every article you publish is safe wherever it's read. ✅

The example always comes from you. We never write one for you or make one up.

Where to add it

When you press Write it for me on a card in My Plan, the author is asked for a short insight. Put your example or observation there. You can also add it to an article later in Content Studio.

The question behind the question

"Will a general observation do, or do I need a real case?" Either is equally good. Use whichever comes more easily to the clinician.

The next question is usually...

• How is a piece of content actually written?
• What is my article score, and how is it measured?
• Why do I need a reviewer at all?

Still stuck? This usually means...

• You're not sure if your example is too specific. Ask your reviewer to read it. If anyone could recognise the patient from it, take that detail out.
• You've already written a result into an article. Edit it in Content Studio and take out the sentence about how it turned out.