I thought PR was about media. Until I became a patient.
I thought PR was about media. Until I became a patient.
Rob Lagendijk
Rob Lagendijk
1 July 2026
How five years of healthcare, recovery and rehabilitation changed my view of communication and reputation.
How five years of healthcare, recovery and rehabilitation changed my view of communication and reputation.
I combine twenty years of experience in PR and positioning with the perspective of someone who has experienced healthcare from the inside. As a member of the OLVG Patient Panel, I bring the patient perspective into my strategic work. From September 2026 I am also studying Healthcare and Governance at Nyenrode Business University to deepen my understanding of leadership, decision making and change in healthcare.
I combine twenty years of experience in PR and positioning with the perspective of someone who has experienced healthcare from the inside. As a member of the OLVG Patient Panel, I bring the patient perspective into my strategic work. From September 2026 I am also studying Healthcare and Governance at Nyenrode Business University to deepen my understanding of leadership, decision making and change in healthcare.
For years I thought I understood how trust worked. I had spent almost two decades as a PR strategist, helping executives, entrepreneurs and innovators sharpen their story, define their position and become visible. We looked for the right message, the right moment and the right journalist. I believed a strong story would ultimately create trust. That was my profession. Until I became a patient.
For years I thought I understood how trust worked. I had spent almost two decades as a PR strategist, helping executives, entrepreneurs and innovators sharpen their story, define their position and become visible. We looked for the right message, the right moment and the right journalist. I believed a strong story would ultimately create trust. That was my profession. Until I became a patient.
My story as a patient
My story as a patient
For Stichting ItsME I wrote about the years after bacterial meningitis, the consequences that only became visible later and what recovery looks like in practice.
For Stichting ItsME I wrote about the years after bacterial meningitis, the consequences that only became visible later and what recovery looks like in practice.
Meningitis changed my life profoundly. What began as an apparently ordinary ear infection developed into a medical crisis. Years of neurological rehabilitation, hearing loss and hospital follow up followed.
Meningitis changed my life profoundly. What began as an apparently ordinary ear infection developed into a medical crisis. Years of neurological rehabilitation, hearing loss and hospital follow up followed.
My world became smaller, while at the same time I tried to make it larger. I travelled, explored and enjoyed life, but I was also running away. I looked for control in excessive exercise, in the bathhouses of Budapest and the hammams of Marrakesh. Where my calendar had once revolved around strategies, clients and plans, it was now shaped by energy, recovery and the next appointment.
My world became smaller, while at the same time I tried to make it larger. I travelled, explored and enjoyed life, but I was also running away. I looked for control in excessive exercise, in the bathhouses of Budapest and the hammams of Marrakesh. Where my calendar had once revolved around strategies, clients and plans, it was now shaped by energy, recovery and the next appointment.
When you are a patient, you listen differently
When you are a patient, you listen differently
During those years I learned something I had never fully considered as a communications adviser. When you are a patient, you listen differently.
During those years I learned something I had never fully considered as a communications adviser. When you are a patient, you listen differently.
You do not listen to words in order to judge them. You listen because you need something to hold on to. You are not only trying to understand what a doctor says, but what it means for your life. You look for certainty, while the person opposite you may only be able to say honestly that certainty is not available.
You do not listen to words in order to judge them. You listen because you need something to hold on to. You are not only trying to understand what a doctor says, but what it means for your life. You look for certainty, while the person opposite you may only be able to say honestly that certainty is not available.
That is where my view of communication started to change.
That is where my view of communication started to change.
Trust is not created by the right words
Trust is not created by the right words
I learned that trust does not arise because someone chooses the right words. Trust arises when words match reality, when expectations are stated honestly and when someone is willing to say what they do not yet know.
I learned that trust does not arise because someone chooses the right words. Trust arises when words match reality, when expectations are stated honestly and when someone is willing to say what they do not yet know.
That sounds obvious. Yet I realised that for years I had worked from a different starting point. I thought communication began when an organisation brought its story into the outside world.
That sounds obvious. Yet I realised that for years I had worked from a different starting point. I thought communication began when an organisation brought its story into the outside world.
Communication starts much earlier
Communication starts much earlier
Now I believe communication begins far earlier. It begins in the choices an organisation makes, the expectations it creates, the responsibilities it accepts and the way it responds when certainty is impossible.
Now I believe communication begins far earlier. It begins in the choices an organisation makes, the expectations it creates, the responsibilities it accepts and the way it responds when certainty is impossible.
Media can make a reputation visible. They cannot create the underlying reality that makes trust possible.
Media can make a reputation visible. They cannot create the underlying reality that makes trust possible.