Originally published by: CommunicateHealth
Originally published on: January 21, 2021
Now that folks are starting to get COVID-19 vaccines, many people are eagerly awaiting their turn in line. But because the first 2 COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States are a new type — called mRNA vaccines — lots of people also have questions about how they work.
Originally published by: JSI
Original author: Kate Bagshaw and Nicole Davis
Originally published on: January 29, 2020
Worldwide, countries are developing and implementing strategies to introduce COVID-19vaccines. JSI’s experience with life-course vaccination, notably supporting the preparation and introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in eight countries, can be adapted to provide technical assistance for COVID-19 vaccine introduction. Three key lessons have emerged.
Until recently, most writers in the field of medical communication entered the field without formal training. Some started out with scientific or medical degrees and previously worked as scientists, physicians, or pharmacists before transitioning into medical writing. Others began as journalists and built a career by writing about health and medicine.
Now, you can start a career in medical communication by taking medical writing courses that culminate in a degree specific to this field. You can also advance in the medical writing field by going back to school and earning an undergraduate or graduate degree.
Most degree programs in medical writing culminate in one of the following degrees.
Originally published by: Van Eperen
Originally published on: December 20, 2020
Being color brave means you make a space for candid conversations about race that can help us better understand each other’s perspectives and life experiences. Color brave doesn’t mean you gloss over race issues and avoid these conversations, instead you welcome these conversations and approach them with unbiased opinions, an authentic mindset, curiosity, and interest to learn about your differences.
Change your “narrative” and “thought process.”
To be color brave, you must first change your “narrative” and “thought process.” You can’t be an organization that’s part of the movement with same mindset and perception as before. Business leaders must assess what they do know and what they don’t know. Look deeper and address situations that will make a difference. Build healthy habits that create a two-way conversation between leadership and employees. Discuss the future of your organization, show your commitment to your employees, a diverse workplace, and the BLM movement.
Originally published by: CommunicateHealth
Originally published on: December 3, 2020
If you’re like us, dear readers, you’ve been eagerly following updates on COVID-19 vaccine trials. But of course, any benefit from a vaccine depends on people actually getting it. And the latest Gallup poll has the percentage of Americans who say they would do so at just under 60. So we’ve got some work to do on this front!
Originally published by: JSI
Original author: Jessica Holli & Clancey Bateman
Originally published on: October 6, 2020
In 2020, we are flooded with messages fighting for our attention, time, and money. Public health campaigns have to compete with the up to 5,000 advertisements and messages that individuals receive every day. How can we, as health communicators, cut through the noise to reach our audiences with important information about health topics?
Originally published by: American Institutes for Research
Original author: Trent Sharp
Originally published on: September 10, 2020
As part of my technical assistance work at AIR, I spent this summer meeting with a team of 10 principals in Austin, Texas. This group has worked to leverage their collective impact initiative, called NACER, as they responded to the coronavirus pandemic and the moral imperatives that have surfaced through the Black Lives Matter movement. Being a principal is complex work under normal circumstances. These days, the magnitude of the job is hard to wrap your head around.
Our weekly virtual meetings have been wide-ranging. Beyond core academics and student services, we regularly grappled with issues surrounding food distribution, utility assistance, health screenings, contact tracing, housing vulnerability, transportation, coronavirus-induced student migration and teacher shortages, and shepherding anti-racist professional development—just to name a few. The principals’ stories offer a glimpse into how multiple systems overlap inequitably across communities. After each meeting, I was reminded of the decades of educational research showing how student learning is nested within and shaped by place-specific “geographies of educational opportunity” that advantage some and disadvantage others.
Originally published by: CommunicateHealth
Originally published on: August 20, 2020
Here at We ❤ Health Literacy Headquarters, we’ve been thinking a lot about how we discuss race, racism, and risk in our health materials. And with COVID-19 killing Black people and other people of color at vastly disproportionate rates, it’s more urgent than ever to get this tricky conversation right.
Originally published by: JSI
Originally published on: July 29, 2020
JSI senior consultant and JSI Research & Training board member Bisola O. Ojikutu has published two opinion pieces on the impending COVID-19 vaccines and their potential effect on Black and Latinx communities.
Originally published by: ICF Next
Original author: Vijay Madyastha and Caroline Bostwick
Originally published on: July 22, 2020
Along with the regular stressors of everyday life, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic, financial, and public health turmoil have brought additional layers of anxiety and fear to every individual’s home. Aside from working, taking care of loved ones, and completing daily tasks, people across the country now have to worry about the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones as novel coronavirus cases continue to increase across the parts of the globe.
Without a doubt, 2020 has taken a toll on American mental health. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently found that 45% of adults in the U.S. reported that their mental health has been negatively impacted this year. And as mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression increase, levels of health risk behaviors (i.e. excessive alcohol and drug use, smoking, and reduced level of exercise) also trend upwards.