Disney Got Obesity Wrong
In 2004, many of us in hospitals were exposed to a book by Fred Lee called
If Disney Ran Your Hospital. It was a new concept of thought for us; a business practice model that focused on the customers' (patients') perceived positive experience, rather than actual services provided. It really changed everything for many healthcare systems and took a bit of getting used to by the frontline nurses, but as always, we adapted. The Disney model was eventually accepted and embraced.
Let's fast forward now to 2012. Disney, it seems, didn't follow its own model. It recently opened an "obesity" pavilion at Disney World to increase our awareness of the importance of healthy eating and exercise, which is noble. What's not so noble is the way the "bad guys" are portrayed. All are obese with names like Leadbottom and Glutton. Parents were outraged. After all, we know we are an obese nation, and now Disney is essentially telling our kids that fat people are just plain bad. Fortunately, Disney took the complaints seriously, and closed down the exhibit in order to rework the message. But if the exhibit had stayed the way it was, and was part of the Disney practice model as shown in If Disney Ran Your Hospital, I realized my overweight self probably wouldn't be able to work at my hospital anymore!