September 22nd, 2020

The Impact of COVID-19 on Speaker Programs by Age

We have been sharing data from a recent survey we did with 50 healthcare providers (HCPs), across several specialties, on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their likelihood to attend speaker programs. Not surprisingly, there has been some changes.

These changes have not only been seen across the collective whole, but also amongst individual age groups as well. In this article, we wanted to share the breakouts by age group to see if there were any variances worth noting.

Under 30 Age Group

The first age group we looked at was our youngest group, which consisted of those providers who were under the age of 30. The chart below shows this group’s likelihood to attend various types of speaker programs pre and post COVID-19.

We can see that currently, across the board, those in the under 30 age bracket, have lost some interest in attending speaker programs with the biggest drop coming from live presentations in their office, hospital and/or clinic. This could be due to new restrictions that have been put in place that limit who may enter a medical facility.

Although those under the age of 30 were less likely to attend all programs, post COVID-19, there were some program types that were less impacted. For example, a live web program at home only saw a drop of .6 in attendees’ likelihood to attend and is also the program those under 30 will most likely attend post COVID-19. This is followed closely by web programs at the provider’s office, hospital or clinic.

Age 30 – 44 Group

The second age group we looked at was the 30 – 44 age group. Their results can be seen in the chart below.

With the exception of the live in-office, hospital or clinic programs, which saw the biggest drop in attendees’ likelihood to attend, there was not a big decrease in interest, post COVID-19, across the board for the 30-44 age group. In fact, most of the web presentations either stayed the same or increased in likelihood to attend.

In addition, similar to the under 30 age group, the 30-44 age group is very interested in web programs at home, which was only second to their likelihood to attend on-demand programs. It is also interesting to note that the 30-44 age group, as a whole, is more interested in web programs than the other two age groups, post COVID-19.

Age 45+ Group

The final age group we looked at were those providers over the age of 45. Please see their results in the chart below:

Similar to the younger than 30 group, the 45+ group has lost some interest in attending a speaker program since the COVID-19 outbreak, with the only exception being on-demand web presentations.

We can see the biggest drops were with those events that are either at a restaurant or in-office. This is interesting to note because, prior to the pandemic, this age group was the most likely to attend these programs out of the three age brackets.

Although there has been major decreases across the board for this age group, there is still interest in attending most programs types (with the exclusion of restaurant programs), post COVID-19.

Final Thoughts

COVID-19 has had an impact on the desire to attend speaker programs, especially programs at a local restaurant, which makes sense given the request to social distance.

It is also apparent that the pandemic has not impacted the behaviors of all providers equally. As we saw from our research, there are definite differences between the three age groups we surveyed in their likelihood to attend various programs. Now more than ever, it is important for healthcare companies to provide different channels for their audiences to attend speaker programs.

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