Simplify your messaging with the "Kindergartener test"
Have you ever struggled to explain what you do or what public health is?
One of my colleagues has a "grandma test" for anything he communicates to a general audience - if his grandma will understand, then he can share the message. Today, I want to share another twist on that, the "Kindergartener test". Will a Kindergartener understand and stay interested and engaged in what you're saying? This requires a simple, relatable, creative, and - where possible - interactive messaging approach.
Let me share an example.
Too many partners, too little time, one nifty tool
Public health problems live at the intersection of many different sectors and issues.
You can’t help kids in schools do and feel better without also making sure their teachers are well, that school policies don’t kick them out of class, that their communities are safe, and so on.
So any community health improvement effort worth its salt is going to involve multiple components led by multiple partners.
Hearing vs. Listening to community
You want to transform health in your community. And you recognize that can’t be done without communities in the center and in the lead.
But how do we actually DO that?
We’ve talked about meeting community where they literally, physically are and these strategies are great to hear what they have to say, but today, I want to push us a little further. Because there is a HUGE difference between hearing and truly listening.
How to meet community where they (literally) are
One of my favorite parts of my work with community coalitions and collaboratives is working with them to meet the community where they are.
As a recovering academic, let me tell you why communities don’t trust academics and researchers - even when academics are trying to get community input, the typical model is that they bring folks together in a new space where the researcher has all the power and then ask community members to answer a bunch of questions to serve their own research needs and then the community never hears from them again.
Harsh, right?