Public Health in Oregon - Join The Conversation

Lessons in Communications

By: NWHF Staff | Posted on: September 11th, 2011 | Share:
Categories: Education • Public Health

By Craig Mosbaek, CHP Contributor  

I had the opportunity to attend the mid-year meeting of the American Public Health Association earlier this summer, where communications was topic of strong emphasis, particularly in a presentation by Rob Gould.  Gould is managing director for Brodeur Shift Positive.  With a doctorate in social psychology and years of communications experience, Gould talked about the big lessons he has learned in the field.

For example:

While public health’s strategy used to be “inform and hope,” we’ve now learned that educating people about the dangers of certain health behaviors is not very effective at getting people to change.
We are now in the era of creating the environment for health, which requires community action to make those changes.

Appealing to people’s values and reaching them emotionally can generate momentum for community action.  It is difficult to change people’s values, but we need to see how creating healthy environments appeals to the values that people already hold.

Because some of our public health problems are so large, Gould suggests that “when the goal is big, make the challenge small.”  We should encourage actions that are specific, doable, and immediate.

Being optimistic helps focus attention on solutions and motivates action.  It is more effective to make people feel better and not worse.

Finally, “Don’t go it alone.”  We need to pool our resources and knowledge, and work together toward common goals. Partners don’t have to agree on everything. In fact, it is better if they don’t.  The diversity of partners improves the overall effort, and different partners are able to reach different audiences and expand the alliance that is pushing for community change.