Communicating about Healthy and Active Communities: Message Development

1. Communicating about Healthy and Active Communities: Message Development Adam Zimmerman Burness Communications

2. Agenda Public Health Messages that Resonate Storytelling Effective Ways to Advocate What is a Good Message?

3. Importance of Message

4. Importance of Message A message provides the big picture and answers: • Why should anyone care? • Why is this urgent? • What should I do? It must be clear, compelling, accurate – and short!

5. Developing a Message Avoid jargon—use examples Think about your audience Use “people-speak,” not “brand-speak”   Show, don’t tell

6. Avoid Jargon—Use Examples Instead of “infrastructure that supports active living” say “brand new buildings, sidewalks, or greenways” Instead of “neighborhood environmental factors” say “traffic” or “crime” or “public transportation” Instead of “increasing physical activity” say “more open spaces” or “safer parks to play in” or “walking or biking”

7. Avoid Jargon - Use These Words

8. “People-speak” not “brand-speak” Instead of: “I work on issues that deal with the barriers to community access to physical activity.” Say: “Our goal is to create a safe and fun neighborhood where kids can walk to school and families can take bike rides together.”

9. Show, Don’t Tell “Our department provides access to services to improve health.” “We’re keeping people healthy by helping moms and dads quit smoking, providing vaccines to children, and making sure the food families eat is safe.”

10. Cafeteria Tray One Tray Video

11. Messages that Resonate “Winning the battle on prevention and investing in healthy neighborhoods”

12. Strong Messages Six focus groups and a nationwide poll of 1,000 registered voters found: • Keep message focused on children, their health and the future. • Frame the issue around prevention. • Use language like local, neighborhood, improve and health. “healthier neighborhoods”, “improving local health” and “healthier America” all elicit positive reactions. *From Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research

13. Words That Work – Based on Testing Prevention • Preventionsaves lives, reduces health care costs, and makes the country a healthier, more productive place. • Prevention is about health care vs. sick care. • Prevention has a real payoff in terms ofdollars, workforce productivity, and quality of life for all Americans. • Proven prevention programs spare people from needless suffering and trips to the doctor's office.

14. Words That Work – Based on Testing Making healthy choices easier choices. This generation of kids is on track to live less healthy, shorter lives than their parents – but we can turn that around. Investing in improving health. Return on investment. How active we are and what we eat are highly personal decisions. But these decisions are heavily influenced by the world around us. (outline barriers to being healthy.) Health starts where we live, learn, work and play. What impacts health outside of the doctor’s office.

15. Words to Avoid “Community Health”: people define as: hospitals, access to care, flu shots, CVS and Walgreens, Emergency care, community clinics. Talking about health in terms of places instead of people: the difference between a healthy community vs. Healthier Americans or Healthier Georgians. Social determinants of health, health in all policies, disparities: too prescriptive, takes away choice, makes people feel powerless/not empowered in their health. Interventions. Alternatives: Programs, policies, strategies are easier to understand.

16. Top Message Points 1. Preventing disease is the most effective, common-sense way to improve health. Investing in disease prevention can dramatically lower health care costs while improving health.

17. Top Message Points 2. Every American deserves to live a long, healthy life. But we’re falling short of that goal. Today’s kids are in danger of serious health problems – like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and others -- much earlier in life than their parents.

18. Top Message Points • Each of us is personally responsible for making healthy choices for ourselves and our children to prevent illness in our own lives. 4. We can help kids and everyone else, too, by making healthy choices easy choices.

19. Top Message Points 5. There are also things we can do together – as communities – to support individuals and families who want to take personal responsibility. We need to start with a strong focus on kids and schools.

20. The Power of Storytelling Your work is about more than data points—it’s about real people.

21. Your Audience Wants Stories “When I was in the Senate, it was stories, probably more than all the factual information, that really moved you to want to act.” -Fmr. Senator Tom Daschle

22. One Story Can Change the World Ryan White video

23. Impact Four month’s after his death in 1990, Congress enacted the Ryan White Care Act More than two decades later, it is the largest federally-funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS Ryan White Care Programs provide life-saving and life-extending treatment to 500,000 uninsured and/or low-income Americans

24. Tips for Story Making • Strategically choosing (i.e. local) stories • Knowing your audience • Jack and Jill, not War and Peace • Use humanizing language and details • Keep it focused on your message • Messenger matters

25. Volunteers?

26. “I tell you this story because…” Connect...............the................dots Messages Story Ask

27. Lobbying and Advocacy Onion video

28. What is Lobbying? Direct Lobbying: communication with legislator or legislative staff that refers to pending legislation and reflects a view on legislation Grassroots Lobbying: communication with public that refers to pending or potential legislation and includes a call to action

29. What is Not Lobbying? • Educational Meetings: Discussing broad social issues without reference to specific legislation • Invited testimony or written technical assistance • Communicating about non-legislative policies, such as regulations • Site Visits • Developing non partisan analysis and research • Enforcement of existing law

30. More Not Lobbying Earned Media and Op-Eds Community Education Coalition Building/Convening Press Conference

31. Know the Rules Before you engage, clarify your ability to push a policy agenda forward with your boss Support Governor’s agenda

32. Who is Your Audience? Governor Health policy adviser Health department head State legislature County Commissioner Mayor Local board of health CONGRESS!!

33. Making an Impact: Audience ID Where is your policymaker from? And where are they coming from? What is their background, i.e. what do they care about? What committees are they on? Caucuses? What does their spouse do? What is their position on public health, prevention, etc? Do they support Safe Routes to School?

34. Methods of Achieving What You Want – Strategic Asks Doable  Visit Press Release Specific  Read Report Briefing Timely  Web Site Introduction Hearing Newsletter Convene Letter Question Share Report February 8, 2008

35. Final Tip: Keep the Big Picture in Mind