Public health isn’t just about policies, clinics, or statistics. At its heart, it’s about people—our families, our neighbors, our communities. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people don’t connect with charts or jargon. They connect with stories.
That’s why the book Talking Health: A New Way to Communicate About Public Health struck such a chord with me. It lays out something that feels so intuitive from a creative perspective: how we frame an idea determines whether people will lean in or tune out. Public health messages can sometimes feel heavy—rooted in blame, or delivered in language that lacks compassion. Talking Health reminds us that by shifting the framing and choosing language that invites people in, we can create understanding and even initiate change.
I’ve seen this play out in my own work. Many cause-based organizations that are dedicated to building up capacity, launching new programs, & affecting real change find themselves at a loss for explaining the impact they’re having. Which makes sense to me because you’ve got your head down and you’re actually doing the more important work of making those successful material outcomes a reality. My job is to extract those stories and develop communications that are consistent, relevant, and real. Stories about families navigating challenges together, about communities taking action, about small wins that point to something bigger. Those are the moments when people say, “Yes, I see myself in this. This matters to me.”
The truth is, numbers are necessary—they help us see the scale of an issue. But numbers alone rarely move hearts. A statistic about childhood asthma doesn’t carry the same weight as hearing a father describe what it’s like to watch his daughter struggle to breathe on days when the air quality dips. One is information. The other is human.
What Talking Health does so well is show that public health communication isn’t just about correcting misinformation or pushing out directives. It’s about creating connection. It’s about telling stories that highlight our shared values: fairness, safety, opportunity. It’s about showing that health isn’t just an individual choice—it’s something we build together.
And maybe that’s the most inspiring part. Because at the end of the day, storytelling in public health is about possibility. It’s about painting a picture of what’s achievable when we come together—healthier kids, stronger communities, longer lives filled with dignity.
For me, that’s where creative communications and public health meet: in the belief that the right story, told in the right way, can change not just minds but lives.
