This week, Susan Channa discussed the importance of proper communication between public policy experts and the United States population and several ways one can be an effective communicator. One issue that stood out to me was how much our country’s government and experts struggled to communicate effectively with the US public.
Susan Channa gave clear pointers on how to communicate effectively. Advice such as: Be quotable, deliver key messages, deliver shorter answers, correct misstatements and raise questions yourself. Also, be concise, clear, and compelling and focus on three key messages. This advice made much sense. However, our country and its institutions often failed to follow this advice. Whether it was the CDC, which often released long form and confusing tweets, or President Trump/Biden, whom both have made contradictory statements from public health experts, our country and its institutions have a big problem regarding effective communication.
As we move to a more digital age and an age where public health issues are becoming more and more politicized, what is the best way to move forward so that Americans can receive effective communication? Perhaps the CDC needs more funding to hire better social media experts/training. Maybe public health experts can be given a status and protections that allow them to be more independent, like certain judicial positions in our country.
Hi,
I enjoyed reading your post. One of the first things that you mentioned that resonated with me is that our government and public health experts often struggle to effectively communicate with the general public. I noted a similar observation in my post because I am always shocked at how poorly crucial health information is delivered to us especially when there are a several simple tips about proper health communication (such as those discussed in our lecture with Susan Channa). I’m curious to know to what extent professionals responsible for delivering health information are trained on best practices. What steps are being taken right now to enhance the delivery of health communication (i.e., trainings, hiring health communication experts, becoming familiar with social medias sites that people often turn to for health information etc.) and how quickly will we see a drastic improvement?
Great post Nicholas. You raise some good questions here. The possibility of the CDC becoming and independent entity echoes some of Dr. Del Rio’s suggestions and I think would be a great first step. I think another tricky thing is that so much media is so limited in time/space. You must make your point in a certain number of characters or in three minutes of less and this disease is not simple, it is NUANCED and it keeps changing, so how can one articulate that in bits and pieces?