Guidelines for Communicating Epidemiology and Public Health
Last updated on: 2024-09-19
Introduction
Effective communication is one of the ten essential public health services, and communicating complex topics and data to the public is challenging (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2024). The previous era of public health communications conformed to the “information deficit model” that assumed that raising the public’s general knowledge of public health information improved abilities to understand, interpret, and apply specific guidance. The deficit model, however, is unsupported by scientific evidence (Akin and Scheufele 2017). While public audiences do use their general understanding of science to interpret information, this is a small component of information processing (Allum et al. 2008). Instead, lay audiences rely on their values and ideals (Nisbet and Scheufele 2009). The deficit model also propagates the view of an unintelligent public, risking further harm to the public-science relationship (Nisbet and Scheufele 2009). Moving beyond the deficit model requires understanding and implementing evidence-based practices for communicating public health information in a way that reflects public health’s values of meeting communities’ needs and its systems of self-correction (Jamieson 2017).
This handbook seeks to share evidence-based strategies for communicating public health information and data. These strategies are organized into thirteen guidelines across five sections. The first section, Essentials for Clear and Concise Writing, draws on the information presented in Gopen and Swan’s 1990 article “The Science of Scientific Writing” and the Duke University Graduate School Writing Center.1 It includes guidelines one through three: Use Proper Grammar, Ensure Cohesion and Coherence, and Be Concise. The second section, Communicating Concepts in Public Health and Epidemiology, includes guidelines four through six: Appeal to Credibility and Shared Values, Set a Realistic Scope, and Employ Rhetorical Devices. The third section, Communicating Data, includes guidelines seven through nine: Present Simple Numbers, Display Accessible Visualizations, and Prioritize and Explain Data. The fourth section, Communicating Uncertainty, includes guidelines ten and eleven: Be Reasonably Transparent and Create an Expectation of Change. The fifth section, Misinformation Prevention and Response includes guidelines twelve and thirteen: Emphasize Consensus and Distribute Warnings and Corrections. Additionally, this handbook provides a rubric to evaluate existing public health communications based on the evidence-based guidelines. Finally, the Additional Resources section shares sources for further information.
This handbook seeks to share evidence-based strategies for communicating public health information and data. These strategies are organized into thirteen guidelines across five sections. The first section, Essentials for Clear and Concise Writing, draws on the information presented in Gopen and Swan’s 1990 article “The Science of Scientific Writing” and the Duke University Graduate School Writing Center.1 It includes guidelines one through three: Use Proper Grammar, Ensure Cohesion and Coherence, and Be Concise. The second section, Communicating Concepts in Public Health and Epidemiology, includes guidelines four through six: Appeal to Credibility and Shared Values, Set a Realistic Scope, and Employ Rhetorical Devices. The third section, Communicating Data, includes guidelines seven through nine: Present Simple Numbers, Display Accessible Visualizations, and Prioritize and Explain Data. The fourth section, Communicating Uncertainty, includes guidelines ten and eleven: Be Reasonably Transparent and Create an Expectation of Change. The fifth section, Misinformation Prevention and Response includes guidelines twelve and thirteen: Emphasize Consensus and Distribute Warnings and Corrections. Additionally, this handbook provides a rubric to evaluate existing public health communications based on the evidence-based guidelines. Finally, the Additional Resources section shares sources for further information.
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This guidebook is intended to be a living document and will be updated as our guidance evolves. Major changes (e.g., adding or removing sections, reformatting, etc.) will be explicitly noted in the Version Log. Minor changes (e.g., grammatical revisions) will occur as needed.
Guidelines for Communicating Epidemiology and Public Health © 2024 by KDHE Genomic Epidemiology Program is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
References
Akin, Heather, and Dietram A. Scheufele. 2017. “Overview of the Science of Science Communication.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication, 1st ed., 25–34. New York: Oxford University Press.
Allum, Nick, Patrick Sturgis, Dimitra Tabourazi, and Ian Brunton-Smith. 2008. “Science Knowledge and Attitudes Across Cultures: A Meta-Analysis.” Public Understanding of Science 17: 35–54. https://doi.org/11.1077/0963662506070159.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2024. “10 Essential Public Health Services. Public Health Professionals Gateway.” May 31, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/about/index.html.
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 2017. “The Need for a Science of Science Communication: Communicating Science’s Values and Norms.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication, 1st ed., 15–24. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nisbet, Matthew C., and Dietram A. Scheufele. 2009. “What’s Next for Science Communication? Promising Directions and Lingering Distractions.” American Journal of Botany 96 (10): 1767–78. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900041.
The material from the Duke University Graduate School Writing Center is licensed through a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License and has been shared in accordance with the license. For details, please refer to the license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.↩︎