Recently, we at M&D Science Consulting and Communications had the privilege of attending a lecture by Katelyn Jetelina of “Your Local Epidemiologist” fame, who was awarded the David Axelrod Prize in Public Health by the University at Albany School of Public Health for her excellence in science communications during the COVID-19 pandemic. For those not already in the know, Jetelina’s newsletter, Your Local Epidemiologist: Translating Public Health Science for Everyday Use, provides up to date information and insights about disease outbreaks and other current public health concerns in a reassuringly digestible and approachable way.
Throughout the pandemic and beyond, Jetelina has used her newsletter and social media presence to offer evidence-based takes on the public health landscape that are understandable by lay audiences. In doing so, she has effectively brought public health out from behind the scenes to engage directly with the people it serves. What began as a weekly email update to her colleagues during the chaotic early months of the pandemic has now expanded into a readership of hundreds of thousands spanning 97 countries.
Jetelina’s lecture, like her newsletter, was clear, thorough, straightforward, and always backed by evidence. She presented what she humorously referred to as her “checklist to save the world”--five key principles for reimagining how public health engages with the public in the 21st century. These include 1) becoming visible through data and storytelling; 2) putting the “public” back in public health by partnering with trusted community messengers; 3) gaining a better grasp of the media and information ecosystem and using it effectively; 4) embracing and leveraging the inherently political nature of public health; and 5) innovating through cross-disciplinary and non-traditional partnerships, including collaboration between private/public organizations.
But the road ahead is not an easy one. At one point, Jetelina likened her experience during the pandemic to “being in the middle of the forest, hacking your way through with a machete.” There are few precedents for the work Jetelina has done and continues to do. Public health has never before been thrust into the limelight in the way it was during the pandemic, and Jetelina is the first to admit that the exposure revealed some ugly cracks and blemishes in the system. Much like health care, public health in the U.S. is fragmented, siloed, and chronically underfunded. Burnout is also a severe issue–in fact, if current trends continue, the governmental public health workforce will be halved by 2025. And most worryingly, public trust in public health institutions is at an all-time low, putting countless lives at risk. We have many factors working against us. It is certainly easy to understand why Jetelina sometimes feels like she is lost in the woods.
One of the primary obstacles to restoring the public’s faith in the “invisible shield” of public health is that we are asking it to do something it was never designed to do. Public health as a discipline has never concerned itself much with communications. It isn’t taught in our institutions of higher learning, it is not incentivized for promotion or tenure, and resources are not allocated in budgets for it. The result is a near total disconnect between public health and the public it serves. This has to change, and fast. We live in a time where precarity is the norm rather than the exception, and wherever there is an information vacuum, something will arrive to fill it–often misinformation or disinformation. When people are afraid they turn to people they trust, and in public health emergencies it is crucial that responsible, ethical, well-informed voices are among them.
So how do we rebuild that trust? One of Jetelina’s points that particularly struck a chord with us was the idea that science should bring the public along for the ride of discovery. Much of the rancor that has allowed misinformation and disinformation to flourish comes from the perceived unwillingness of scientists and public health officials to listen and adequately respond to the concerns of citizens with clear explanations of the evidence and data behind policy decisions. This is a problem, because science should be accessible to everyone. If the public is misinformed, then perhaps it’s time for us, as researchers and communicators, to give them the tools to make their own evidence-based decisions.
At M&D, we are scientists with strong foundations in writing, communications, and graphic design. We understand the needs of researchers as well as the people they serve. As an LGBTQ+ owned business, we have an unwavering commitment to diversity, inclusion, and representation in science. If your organization shares our values and is ready to take on the challenge of rethinking its approach to communications, we are ready to help. Together we will find our way through the forest.
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