Giving Compass' Take:

• The de Beaumont Foundation and the Aspen Institute have launched the Public Health Reaching Across Sectors (PHRASES) website and tools to help increase the effectiveness of public health communication. 

• How can donors get involved in successfully disseminating information about public health? How will these tools help increase the quality of health systems? 

• Read over these lessons in human-centered design in global public health. 

Communicating about public health has never been more important, and too many people don’t understand what public health is or what public health professionals do. That’s why the de Beaumont Foundation and the Aspen Institute have launched the Public Health Reaching Across Sectors (PHRASES) website and tools. These tools include research-based framing and communication strategies that can help build support, trust, and credibility.

PHRASES was designed to help public health professional communicate with framing and language that can enhance understanding of public health and help build partnerships. The de Beaumont Foundation and the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine and Society Program worked with the FrameWorks Institute and Hattaway Communications to conduct rigorous framing and communications research, which included interviews and focus groups with public health practitioners, community members, and leaders in housing, education, health systems, and business.

Their findings informed practical, easy-to-use tools including:

  • Winning words
  • A one-minute message about public health
  • Tips to avoid jargon
  • Answers to tough questions
  • Metaphors and values that build support

Read the full article about effective public health communication at The Aspen Institute.