It is (not) rocket science: Public health communication experience as expressed by participants at an international workshop

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The past few years have faced unprecedented communication problems in healthcare as public health professionals were insufficiently prepared to spread trustworthy information during a global pandemic. We held a workshop during the 17th World Public Health Conference 2023, aiming at creating a peer-to-peer collaboration platform to exchange research findings about public health communication with colleagues worldwide. This report aims to summarize the survey results at the workshop which was entitled "It’s (not) rocket science! A quick guide to successful scientific communication in Public Health" held on the first day of the conference, attracting over 150 attendees. METHODS After the workshop, we invited participants to complete a 16-question multiple-choice survey via Google Forms to gather their opinions and experiences in public health communication. RESULTS We collected 48 responses: most of them (71%) were from medical residents in public health. In all, 31% of respondents reported to have undergone specialized training in public health communication. In their daily work, 80% reported engaging in communication with the general population, although many lacked confidence in their knowledge; 86% had communicated a public health message at least once, primarily through public speeches (54%) and social media (44%). While 63% used spoken word as their main channel, 65% believed mixed communication methods were the most effective using more than one channel as, for example, 40% used both spoken pictures and written words. Additionally, 67% felt they had successfully reached people with different values, breaking through knowledge barriers. CONCLUSIONS The findings acquired from the survey highlight existing difficulties and knowledge gaps in communication, particularly when communicating with the general population. The results offer a starting point for the implementation of tailored interventions and training programs to reduce the disparities in communication skills of public health professionals.