Designing Communications for Humans: Lessons From Public Health
Written by Olivia Blonsky
Photo by Getty Images
In public health, good communication can literally save lives. The more I’ve explored risk communication and community engagement, the more I’ve realized that sharing information isn’t enough. True communication is about creating understanding. Whether it’s a message about disease prevention, vaccine confidence, or mental health, the goal is not just to inform people but to help them act on that information with clarity and trust.
Why Health Literacy Comes First
Health literacy sits at the center of this work. The CDC’s Health Communication Playbook and the Public Health Communication Collaborative’s plain language guide both reinforce how important it is to write with a general audience in mind. If a message is dense, overly technical, or structured in a way that feels intimidating, it can shut people out.
Plain language isn’t about simplifying the truth; it’s about removing barriers so that people can actually use the information.
Techniques for reaching general audiences include:
Avoiding jargon
Breaking ideas into digestible chunks
Supporting text with visuals
When people feel that a message speaks to them, not at them, they’re more likely to understand and engage.
Transparency Is the Foundation of Trust
Still, clarity alone doesn’t guarantee trust. The WHO’s Communicating Risk in Public Health Emergencies emphasizes that communication needs to be responsive and transparent, especially during moments of uncertainty.
People don’t expect organizations to have every answer, but they do expect honesty. To build credibility, organizations can acknowledge:
What is known?
What is not yet known?
What is being done to find answers?
This transparency opens the door for two-way communication, which is essential for addressing fear and misinformation.
The Power of Community-Driven Messaging
The most effective communicators don’t just broadcast updates; they listen, adapt, and respond to the concerns of the people they’re trying to reach.
Community engagement brings all of these ideas together. It shows what happens when communication becomes a partnership rather than a top-down process.
One case study on COVID-19 communication stood out to me. It studied how public health communicators used co-design, translation, and trusted community champions to transform outreach. By involving community members from the beginning, health officials were able to produce messages that felt culturally relevant and grounded in local reality. It’s a reminder that communities aren’t passive audiences—they’re essential collaborators in making communication meaningful.
These lessons extend far beyond public health. They connect to any field where people rely on information to make decisions and where trust influences outcomes. As I continue building my career in communications, I want to carry these principles with me:
Design for understanding
Write with clarity
Create space for dialogue
Treat communities as partners
The more human our communication becomes, the more impact it will have.