Policy that increases access to safe, stable, affordable housing can improve community health. But are residents and policymakers seeing that connection? This analysis of news from near Yakima, part of a larger project for the Kresge Foundation, provides insights that may help advocates more effectively frame housing as a health issue.
As we get closer to the distribution of vaccines for COVID-19, policymakers and the public are seeking information and voicing questions about their safety and efficacy. Public health practitioners at health departments and elsewhere can play an important role in addressing concerns and building trust to support the equitable rollout of vaccinations. This resource contains tips to help public health leaders communicate more clearly and effectively about vaccines.
Public health practitioners around the world are excited about the potential of enacting taxes to reduce consumption of sugary drinks. However, some success stories — like Seattle’s —have not been straightforward. To help advocates understand the nuances of the public narrative that surrounded the Seattle sugary drink tax and the lessons it might hold for future campaigns, BMSG evaluated news about the tax. With support from the Voices for Healthy Kids initiative of the American Heart Association, we analyzed how the issue was covered, whose perspectives were dominant — or overlooked — and how arguments were framed.
Public health practitioners provide policymakers, the media, and the public with accurate, timely information. But how do they do this as misinformation proliferates and efforts to prevent illness become politicized? Although BMSG typically focuses on communication aimed at shaping health policy, as mask mandates become more common, local health departments are increasingly seeking ways to overcome the challenges they face in supporting residents in adhering to such mandates. There’s no one easy communication solution, but this tip sheet offers some quick tips and examples to help.
Op-eds are a powerful way to bring public health and social justice issues to the public’s attention, and to reach policymakers with suggestions for concrete policy solutions. An op-ed is a proactive media tactic that can help you shift the narrative around your issue to encourage readers to consider structural change to solve the problems in our society. Writing one can help support your overall social change strategy. Use this worksheet to organize your ideas.
Without background knowledge or proper context, when people hear statistics about racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, they are likely to attribute the cause to individual behavior. This tip sheet offers suggestions for incorporating the bigger picture into storytelling to help audiences understand the systemic causes of — and solutions to — inequities.
We developed this working document to support public health practitioners, community organizers, and others who are striving, amid COVID-19, to elevate equity-focused solutions in housing and health news and before policymakers. The guide is focused on shifting the narrative from safety during the pandemic to the importance of treating housing as essential to public health.
These rapid response guidelines, developed by an equity-focused subcommittee of the Public Health Alliance of Southern California (Alliance) with input from BMSG, can help local health departments use language and images that fight discrimination and stigma while remaining consistent with science.
When boys and young men of color (BYMOC) have been victims of violence, they need unfettered access to support services in order to heal. Yet, many of these young people have been treated poorly as they interact with our systems. If this experience of poor treatment by systems that are supposed to serve them is a result of misconceptions by the staff at these institutions, we started to wonder: What would it take to change the narrative about young men of color? This brief, created by the Healing Justice Alliance, which BMSG supports through communication technical assistance, contains research and recommendations for creating messages that bring compassion and healing to the fore.
When those who are most impacted by inequities have an equal voice in designing and implementing solutions, we are more likely to achieve lasting results. This toolkit, created by the Center for Wellness and Nutrition, with input from BMSG, will guide local public health leaders, community liaisons, and coalitions through a step-by-step process of incorporating effective community engagement strategies into their local programs. The toolkit includes easy-to-use, action-focused activities and resources to support community members in exploring issues affecting their communities; it also contains tips for organizing, educating, and advocating for change.
