The Language of Public Health.
Before I start today’s Dean’s Note, a reflection that the federal election will be determined this week. I have commented recently on politics and health, and on some issues relevant to this election. It has been, among much else, an election where language has mattered perhaps more than ever, negatively and positively. It is then perhaps apposite that we had scheduled to run today this Dean’s Note on language.
For the past two years, we have been making an effort to communicate our work much more clearly, both internally and externally. Through our Strategic Thinking Initiative, we articulated our mission and values. We have embraced new outlets for expressing our unique perspective as a School through our redesigned website and publications, our continued contributions to both the academic and journalistic press, and our use of social media. As we advance our outward-facing engagement, it seems worthwhile to reflect on the language of public health and how we might broaden our vocabulary in pursuit of healthier populations.
Why do we communicate? Internally, our communications represent an attempt to create spaces here at SPH where ideas can be heard and engaged with. Even if this engagement results in disagreement or debate, the process of coming together to share thoughts and opinions is, I think, a perennially enriching exercise. To this end, we have established fora for shared language and experiences, and vehicles—like Viewpoints—for our scholars to express their take on both contemporary issues and the overarching themes of our field. Externally, we aim to influence the broader conversation as part of our responsibility as a leading school of public health, to arrive at the confluence of knowledge and values needed to promote population health. Through our media engagement, our advocacy, and our embrace of digital platforms, we seek to export our on-campus discourse to the wider world and effect positive change, using the power of language to bring this about.
For our words to have resonance, they must above all be clear. This begins with knowing our audience. We must be clear about who we are speaking to, and choose what we say accordingly. More than two thousand years ago, Cicero summarized the importance of being able to speak to multiple groups, saying, “He, therefore, is the man of genuine Eloquence, who can adapt his language to what is most suitable to each. By doing this, he will be sure to say every thing as it ought to be said.”
Who, then, are our audiences?
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How, then, can we as a school continue to use language in an effective way, towards improving the health of populations? Four pragmatic directions to highlight.
First, through a new initiative, launching this week, called Public Health Post (PHP). PHP is an online presence, edited by Professor David Jones, that aspires to elevate the conversation around public health through an idea-centered dialogue that focuses on the drivers of population health. It will include content that is both internally generated and externally aggregated, drawn from journalists, policymakers, academics, and other influencers who create change on the local, national, and international level. The platform will unfold the narrative of population health through data visualization of public health statistics, traditional longform journalism, video, and more. Our hope is that PHP will help catalyze the evolution of the language of public health—a language that is flexible, alive to new ideas and expressions, and unstintingly concerned with the foundational drivers of health.
Second, excited as we are to provide platforms like PHP, such efforts mean little if—as Professor Jennifer Beard argues in her Viewpoint—we do not also work to enable the next generation of public health professionals to participate in the conversation. Our writing program is designed to do just that, strengthening our students’ skills through peer coaching and feedback at any stage of the writing process. Because so much of this process consists of often frustrating revision, a finished piece of writing can belie the amount of sheer work that led to its production. Acknowledging that the writer’s task is not as easy as it sometimes looks, we aim to provide as much assistance as we can to those engaged in this painstaking but ultimately worthwhile endeavor.
Third, we are investing in efforts to better train our students in the language of public health and in communicating for the health of the public. To that end, one of our new certificates for the incoming MPH class focuses on Health Communication and Promotion. This certificate, led by Professor William DeJong, aims to provide students with practical skills for developing and implementing communications-based strategies to improve population health.
Fourth, but perhaps most fundamentally, our communications efforts are ably led by our Communications team. The message from Kara Peterson, our director of communications, accompanying this Dean’s Note in this week’s SPH TW elaborates on the work of this group.
I hope everyone has a terrific week. Until next week.
Warm regards,
Sandro
Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH
Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Twitter: @sandrogalea
Acknowledgement: I am grateful to Eric DelGizzo, Kara Peterson, and Professors Jennifer Beard, William DeJong, and David Jones for their contributions to this Dean’s Note.
Previous Dean’s Notes are archived at: /sph/tag/deans-note/