An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure |
Public health communications are more important now than ever. In the early days of COVID-19, I remember watching Nashville’s daily pandemic briefing, anxious to understand what was happening. With each graphic that flashed on the screen, I nodded in understanding. Percent positivity. R0. Community spread. All information I was familiar with from my public health coursework. On occasion, I found myself reaching for my epidemiology textbook to remind myself of a phrase or measure, but most things were within the bounds of my training. Not everyone was as fortunate. Fear and denial fed misinformation. I found myself fielding questions from friends, family, and strangers. The way that we communicate public health information can often be convoluted, largely because it’s an extremely complicated topic. But, as we’ve seen, the public at large needs this information presented in a way that is straightforward and simple to understand. That’s what I delight in: taking complex information and putting it in plain language. |