Making Data Talk:Communicating Public Health Data to the Public, Policy Makers, and the Press

Background: Effectively communicating public health data is critical in order to raise awareness and make key informed decisions on important health issues from the individual to the societal level. However, communicating health data, especially to various audiences including the general public, policy makers, and the media, can be difficult.

Program background: Making Data Talk, which is based on a comprehensive review of the scientific and other relevant literatures, provides practical suggestions on how public health practitioners and other health professionals can better communicate data to the public, policy makers, and the press on a variety of health topics.

Evaluation Methods and Results: Key findings and recommendations are based on a comprehensive review of scientific and other communication research.

Conclusions: This presentation will discuss the critical role that data play in communication and provides recommendations on the selection and presentation of data, including visual and other modes for presenting data (e.g., metaphors) in engaging audiences in effective ways.

Implications for research and/or practice:  In addition, this presentation will introduce the OPT-IN (Organize, Plan, Test, Integrate) framework that can help guide public health practitioners and other health professionals in thinking about whether and how to present public health data to lay audiences.