US focus: rebuilding trust in health communication

What’s your role?
I’m Head of Content at Noom, where I focus on creating the in-app experiences to drive engagement and behaviour change – so, encouraging people to open the app and then to engage in the product so they see outcomes. I also teach on two undergraduate courses for the City University of New York: one on health equity and one on social marketing (better known as public health campaigns).

In both roles, my focus is on developing health content that’s interesting, engaging and motivating – and personalising it to the relevant audience plays a big role in that.

How did you make the switch to health communicator?
I had a traditional journalism background and I’ve been writing and creating content for longer than I care to share! – much of that in health. In 2013, I was hired by a new nonprofit called Understood, working to improve life outcomes for kids with learning disabilities and ADHD. I headed up a content team and built the website and other products.

That was the first time I created content aiming to change knowledge, attitudes and behaviours with no consideration for advertising revenue. For me, it raised a lot of questions, such as how to measure outcomes. That prompted me to study for a Masters in health communication, which allowed me to gain a deep knowledge around topics like behaviour change models and social determinants of health.

How does your background shape your work?
I’ve always been a storyteller. Now, I can combine that with behaviour change and, thanks to my time at Noom, I can layer the health tech piece on top. The combination of those skills has been really helpful.

What’s the most important principle for you when developing health content??
The need to customise content to the audience. If they feel ‘This is how my friends would say it to me,’ that’s a good indicator of success.

But doing that involves audience research, and people often miss this. They want to start creating material so they ignore the steps like research, talking to people, running early concepts past them, and then doing a post-campaign analysis.

It’s understandable – nobody wants to find out that they weren’t successful. But if you gather feedback at the beginning and the middle, you can make sure the project stays on track.

What trends are you seeing in health communication?
I’m interested in how you tell a story and share a message very quickly, on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, using non-traditional means of communication.

These methods are becoming more and more popular – especially if you’re trying to reach people under the age of 30.

What changes are you seeing in US health communications right now?
I feel that at the root of the current state of play is the erosion of trust in science. It’s only just manifesting itself now in political division, but it’s been growing over time.

We’re seeing its impact in practical terms, too. Right now, there is a huge measles outbreak in Western Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. A child has died. If we’d been able to communicate better with that community about the importance of vaccination, that life could have been saved.

I do think there’s learning for us in health communication about what has brought us to this place. Scientific research has often been communicated as absolute and final. We’ve neglected to share that we’re consistently learning new things and our understanding may change over time. So people think ‘You told us something before and now you’re saying that was wrong.’

I think Covid 19 was a pretty strong example of that. Here in the US, in March 2020, we were told not to wear masks. Then a month later, it was, ‘You absolutely have to wear masks – they will save your life.’

Similarly, the vaccines were presented as preventing Covid altogether. As we all now know, vaccines don’t prevent you from getting Covid, but they are hugely effective in reducing the severity and preventing hospitalizations and death. But at the time, we didn’t know – and we were afraid to say we didn’t know.

And that contributed to the widespread feeling of ‘I’m not getting the truth,’ which led to lower vaccination rates in this country. People have died as a result.’

We could have communicated this better. One way would be to understand who people trust and will listen to. For many people in this country, government is not the ideal messenger.

The influencers have stepped up to fill that space. We need to learn from their approach to find new ways to communicate health messages better.

What’s on the horizon for you?
I’m increasingly offering thought leadership. Two weeks ago, I was on a panel at SXSW, talking about digital tools and AI in healthcare. These tools can potentially help level the playing field for health equity, but without good communication, they could actually widen the divide.

With such rapid change, there is definitely a sense of fear. Given where things are right now, it’s up to individuals, non-profits and industry to change minds. Because I don’t think that’s a role the US government is going to play in the near future.

Either way, at this pivotal point, we need health communication more than ever. Ultimately, we need to use all our skills to reach individuals and turn the tide.

1. Do your research! Find out who your audience listens to – and get them on board.

2. Be honest. Qualify that ‘so far, we think that…’ rather than stating absolute truths.

3. Remain empathetic. Understand why people are not trusting science, and speak to them in a way that shows you care.