Healthcare Communication Methods

“I read it three times,” she told me softly, “but I still don’t understand what it says.” We were sitting on a bench outside the community clinic. She held the health education flyer we had distributed during our public health awareness campaign. “It’s in the city dialect,” she added. “Here, we speak differently.” I paused. I had spent weeks helping design that campaign. We printed hundreds of copies. Everyone received the same materials. It felt fair. It felt right. But something wasn’t working. I said gently, “We gave everyone the same message…” She looked at me kindly and said: “Yes. But we’re not all the same.” That one sentence taught me more about public health than any textbook ever had. 🟢 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 is what we started with—we gave everyone the same information. 🟢 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 showed up in language, education, lived experience, and learning style. 🟢 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 meant we had to adapt—translate, simplify, and co-create messages that made sense locally. 🟢 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 was not dismissing her confusion, but treating it as valid and important feedback. 🟢 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 meant making sure no one felt ashamed for not understanding—and that every voice shaped the solution. That conversation changed how I saw my role in public health. It’s not just about delivering a message. It’s about making sure people can hear it, feel it, and use it. #Publichealth isn’t just science. It’s humanity. It’s context. It’s care. Whether I am working on a vaccination campaign, an awareness initiative, or a health policy brief, I carry this lesson with me: 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. When did you first understand the difference between giving people the same support and giving them what they 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱? I would love to hear your experience. Follow Dr. Sadia A. Sony, MSc, MPH, BDS. for insights on public health, careers, equity, and the human side of our work. #PublicHealth #HealthEquity #HealthCommunication #CommunityEngagement #InclusiveCommunication ✨ Image created by Jamie Shields (Disabled By Society). Thank you for your generosity, creativity, and for reminding us why credit, accessibility, and lived experience matter.

Translating health science into understandable and clear health advice isn’t easy, especially on social media. And it’s not about what algorithms want us to do to engage their users. It’s about how people think. In the past three years, the World Health Organization worked on a project with Meta, using their Brand Lift Study tool to test how different kinds of message framings, built on behavioural science theories, affect how people perceive risk and act on it. In the paper below, we highlight a measles vaccination experiment in which we targeted parents of young children. We compared two types of messaging: - Verbatim: fact-based and precise “1 in 1,000 children who get measles will die.” - Gist: essence-based and emotional “Some children who get measles will die.” Both are accurate, but they communicate risk differently. Here are a few reflections from the process: - We need to design social media public health campaigns with behavioural science lenses, not just communication instinct. - We need to evaluate impact beyond likes and shares; focus on understanding and intention. - We must keep messages evidence-based but human; clarity matters as much as accuracy. What matters most isn’t how much information we share, but how people make sense of it. Small shifts in framing can change how people understand risk and how they act on it — which is the ultimate objective of public health communication. WHO project team: Simon Williams Elena Altieri Mohamed Gulaid Giselle Miguens Lisa Menning Karin Stein, MD, MScPH

🚭 Applying a '90s public health campaign mindset to today’s vaping crisis is a car crash. Data shows that fear-based messaging doesn’t cut through with young people—yet many anti-vaping campaigns are still stuck in the past, preaching rather than empowering. As Dan Richardson, Head of Data & Insights at Yahoo, highlighted in his Mumbrella article "Data shows anti-vaping campaigns with traditional approaches will go up in smoke," outdated strategies are failing to make an impact. That’s why 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗽𝗲 is flipping the script. 🚀 No scare tactics. No outdated narratives. Just real voices, real communities, and real change. Led by Victorian Aboriginal Health Service preventative health unit, The Koori Way, and brought to life by Mo Works, this campaign puts #Indigenous youth at the centre of the conversation. Featuring 10 young role models, social-first storytelling, and community-led engagement, it’s designed to meet young people where they are. This isn’t just another health campaign—it’s a movement. And there’s more to come. 💭 It’s time to rethink how we communicate behaviour change. Let’s start with fresh thinking, credible research, and a deep understanding of the audience we’re speaking to. 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀—𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱! 🚍👀 #FlipTheVape #TheKooriWay #PublicHealth #IndigenousYouth #BehaviourChange #MakingMoves #MoWorks

Why should health content be SO serious? Imagine this: ‘If you’re between the ages of 25-35, you might need to get a cervical screening.’ Accompanied by some blue and white NHS branding and some cartoons depicting women’s health. It’s easy to post and broadcast. It follows strict health promotion rules. But unfortunately it’s super easy to ignore. So clinical-sounding that it will likely put people off taking action. To get some stickier social media message through to their target audience, the NHS just perfectly spoke to their target audience with the one and only Harry Styles.  Was it a big deviation from their typical content? Yes.  Did it backfire? Absolutely not. It went viral, because it speaks to their audience perfectly. It’s actually incredibly important that health educators and brands learn how to communicate their message in the simplest way possible. Because:  43% of working-age adults in England have low health literacy, yet most digital health solutions are built for the health-literate minority. Low health literacy has a stronger correlation to poor health than education level, deprivation, age, or ethnicity (Source: National Voices, 2017). 🧠 Why it happens: 📍 Cognitive Overload Complex, jargon-heavy texts increase cognitive load, causing people to tune out or fail to process essential instructions — especially when stressed or anxious about health. 📍 Self-Efficacy & Motivation If people don’t understand what they’re supposed to do, they are less likely to feel capable of acting. Poor comprehension therefore reduces self-efficacy — a key predictor of behaviour change. Health promotion has always been pretty serious but there are a couple of brands and people doing it a bit different: Jude uses humour and relatable experiences to break down the stigma around bladder health and incontinence and speak directly to their audience who are tired of being sidelined by medical jargon. Cindy Gallop is breaking down stigma around sexual health and pleasure in the most unapologetic, genius ways. Health advocacy doesn’t have to be so serious. It’s actually really important that it’s not. I’m really hoping to see more of this from the NHS. What other examples have you seen of great health content? I’m really keen to find more amazing brands. ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to share with your network.  ⚡ Curious about health tech and entrepreneurship? Hit follow Maya Moufarek.

It’s interesting to me how much the words we use or even the name of an organization can determine whether a patient feels included or not. When we think about a rebrand and what it involves, we usually think about things like a new logo or a new look. But in the latest episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, where Elizabeth F. Franklin, PhD, MSW and I had a conversation with E. Anders Kolb, MD about Blood Cancer United’s rebrand, it quickly became clear that this was about something much deeper. What stood out to me was how Blood Cancer United made the decision to evolve from its previous identity as the already successful Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. At the heart of it was one question: are we truly reaching all the patients we’re meant to serve? Here are my main takeaways from our conversation: 🔴 The words we use matter. Language has the potential to either welcome patients or push them out. 🔴 Listening can lead to growth. True organizational change starts with listening to patients, clinicians, researchers, and partners. 🔴 Hope can be measured. Blood Cancer United’s bold goal of enabling more than one million years of life by 2040 focuses attention on what truly matters: quality of life, access to therapies, and patient support. For those of us working in patient advocacy, this episode is a reminder that transformation should be rooted in expanding patient access. It’s about making sure more patients can find you, trust you, and feel included. 🎧 Here’s the full episode: https://lnkd.in/e5nvcF7Q #PatientAdvocacy #PatientAdvocacyVoices

How can public health compete with misinformation? That’s the question Professor Matt Motta and I explored through our latest Boston University School of Public Health project: testing an influencer-based strategy to counter weight loss supplement misinformation on social media. Thanks to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health Communication and its Health Content Creator Program, we recruited 7 diverse creators with a combined reach of nearly 2 million followers. We provided creators with an evidence-based digital toolkit and gave them full creative freedom to deliver science-informed content in their own voice. The result? More accurate, engaging health messages that reached audiences public health often misses. Key takeaways: - Social media can be a credible public health tool when we work with creators, not against platforms. - Messages shifted: <1% of content mentioned the lack of FDA approval for supplements before our intervention. Afterward? Nearly 90%. - Mentions of serious risks (liver, cardiovascular damage) went from zero to frequent. - The model is scalable and adaptable across health misinformation domains, whether for mental health, climate-related threats, or food production and policy. We break it down in our Boston Globe Media op-ed here: https://lnkd.in/eNA9Tk3F Many thanks to our BUSPH team Willa R. and Selenne Alatorre, MPH; Dean ad interim Michael Stein for supporting the Dean's Innovation Challenge that funded this pilot; our Harvard CHC collaborators Amanda Yarnell, Elissa Scherer, Kate Fisher, and our amazing content creators who brought this work to life. Let’s keep reimagining what public health communication can look like. #PublicHealth #HealthCommunication #Misinformation #ScienceCommunication

✍Work in Government or NFP communications or campaigns?✍ Did you know there are more than 1,000,000 people in Australia who speak a language other than English at home and have low levels of English proficiency? Unfortunately, this audience group is often left out of marketing and communication efforts even though they—like everyone else—require access to information to help them make informed decisions about their lives. So, how can you connect with this audience? 1️⃣ Well, one way is to translate your content. If you’re creating content for English-speaking audiences, think about how it could be translated for other audiences. Consider some of the most widely spoken languages in Australia, like Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, and Punjabi. Or think about languages that best meet the needs of specific audiences that you're trying to reach, like recent refugees, or older populations. 2️⃣ Another approach is using in-language advertising. If you have a budget for paid ads, allocate some of it to multicultural media. For example, in Victoria, the government requires at least 15% of campaign media spending to be directed to multicultural media. An example of this could be running ads on community radio or advertising in publications like "Neos Kosmos" for Greek communities or "El Telegraph" for Arabic-speaking audiences. This helps ensure your message reaches your intended audience. 3️⃣ Finally, sometimes translation alone isn’t enough. Think about adapting your campaigns to align with cultural norms and values. Maybe your slogan or humour doesn’t quite resonate with certain communities. For example, a campaign for a health service might need to emphasise family-oriented messaging in some communities or adapt visuals to align with modesty norms in others. Working with a specialist multicultural communications agency, like Ethnolink, can help make sure your message is both culturally sensitive and impactful. So, what’s the takeaway? Commit to creating communication strategies that include all Australians. Because making your message inclusive isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s how you truly connect with the people who need to hear it most. #translation #CALD #multicultual #communications #culturaldiversity

Throughout the years, many clients have shared… “I found my voice by using it to speak up for people and causes I cared about.” Advocacy is the act of supporting, promoting, or arguing in favor of a particular cause, policy, or individual. It involves taking action to influence decisions to bring about change. Whether we are in an organizational leadership role, running a business, or pursuing social or political change, it often feels easier to use our voices on behalf of others than ourselves. Professionally, this shows up when we advocate for our team to have training but stay quiet about our leadership development needs. In the personal realm, clients frequently say they became advocates because they had to—for their children in school or to support their partners or parents after health diagnoses. Lately, in Step into Your Moxie’s organizational leadership and team development work, as well as with my entrepreneurial clients, I’ve noticed a few specific areas where all of the demographics I support are struggling—whether they are advocating for others or speaking up for themselves. 1.       The first area is in tailoring one’s message to their audience. In order to have the best chance at affecting change, we must center the person or people we are speaking with—their priorities and communication style.   Too often, especially when we are passionate, we overspeak. The most successful advocates communicate efficiently; they recognize that those in leadership and decision-making roles are pressed for time and weed out superfluous language from their communication. 2.       A second advocacy mistake I’ve witnessed is using evidence—but failing to interpret or humanize it. Data and statistics are only as valuable as the stories we create about them. 3.       And finally, an important competency that those who successfully advocate possess is emotional intelligence. This is why whether we are supporting leaders in government agencies, physicians and healthcare leaders, or executives in tech, emotional intelligence assessments are how we kick off most executive and leadership coaching engagements. To ethically move people to take action, it’s vital to be self-aware to recognize and effectively and self-compassionately navigate one’s feelings when making a persuasive case. Emotional intelligence is also crucial for recognizing and empathizing with where others are coming from—anticipating people’s objections and providing credible and relevant evidence to back up our claims and requests, as well as preserving relationships while managing resistance, uncertainty, and occasional conflict. Malala Yousafzai said, “I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” How we raise our voice matters, so we truly mobilize others around a shared vision and can translate our ideas into the results we seek. If advocacy is an area where you or staff could use support, please let me know as I’m here to help.

YES, health literacy includes disease state education and medication education. But it’s also SO much more than that. A quick reminder: personal health literacy is “the degree to which individuals have the ability to ⭐️ FIND, UNDERSTAND, and USE ⭐️ information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.” 🔎 FIND relates to availability and access — and not just availability of and access to information, but access to people, technology, and systems that provide the information and services needed to inform health-related decisions. Examples of health literacy that support with FINDING: 🔹 Designing search engine optimized — or generative engine optimized — content so patients can find high-quality answers to their health questions 🔹 Providing clinic information in multiple formats (e.g., print, digital, SMS) so patients can easily access basic info like directions, hours, and contact details 🔹 Building intuitive websites or patient portals with simple (!!!) navigation 🧠 UNDERSTANDING refers to an ability to comprehend the information and services they have access to. Once an individual finds or receives information, can they understand it EASILY? Do they know what the services are for and how they can be beneficial? The information component of "understanding" is the most common interpretation of health literacy, but is sometimes most narrowly applied. So while examples do broadly include disease state or medication education… Additional and more specific examples of health literacy that support with UNDERSTANDING include: 🔹 Using visuals, infographics, and analogies to simplify complex health concepts 🔹 Offering translation and interpretation services + multilingual resources 🔹 Creating segmented, culturally relevant educational materials that reflect the beliefs, values, and lived experiences of your patient population 🔹 Performing demonstrations to help patients correctly use tools such as inhalers, self-injections, finger pricks, monitors, etc. 🔹 Publishing clear yet detailed descriptions of various services available through your institution 🛠️ USE drives home the point that just because someone has access to and comprehends information doesn’t mean they know how to apply it in order to make informed decisions. Examples of health literacy that support with USING: 🔹 Helping patients create action plans for managing chronic diseases with step-by-step instructions 🔹 Simplifying forms and appointment systems so patients can actually use their insurance benefits, schedule care, or request records 🔹 Building feedback loops where patients can ask questions or clarify confusion after their visit (and actually receive prompt responses 👀) What other examples or ideas would you add to either of these 3 main categories? #healthliteracy #patientexperience

Voice-based AI assistants can fill costly gaps in chronic disease monitoring by offering low-friction, human-like check-ins using only a telephone. 1️⃣ Traditional systems often cannot afford continuous follow-up for chronic conditions, leaving many patients unmonitored between clinic visits. 2️⃣ Voice-based AI tools powered by LLMs use phone calls to engage patients in natural conversations, with no need for apps, screens, or internet. 3️⃣ In a pilot study with patients managing bowel disease, 70 percent accepted AI-led health monitoring, and over a third preferred it to human-led group calls. 4️⃣ Patients appreciated the privacy, convenience, and consistent interaction of speaking with AI, especially for sensitive topics. 5️⃣ These systems captured detailed symptom and quality-of-life data, though engagement declined for abstract questions or those placed late in the survey. 6️⃣ Economically, AI tools are suited for low-severity monitoring where human care is too costly but ongoing engagement remains clinically useful. 7️⃣ Providers reported efficiency gains from automated documentation and earlier identification of patients at risk. 8️⃣ Key technical priorities include reducing call delays, tailoring communication to individual needs, and integrating current medical guidance. 9️⃣ Trust and safety depend on strong privacy protections, clear clinician escalation pathways, and culturally sensitive design. ✍🏻 Bo W., Chen Wang, Qiwei Han, Raquel Norel, PhD, Julia Liu, Thaddeus Stappenbeck, Jeffrey Rogers. Voice-based AI Agents: Filling the Economic Gaps in Digital Health Delivery. arXiv. 2025. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2507.16229