Can we bridge the health communications implementation gap?

With public distrust of institutions at historically high levels and alternative sources of information abounding, it is becoming increasingly difficult for evidence-based public health messages to break through.

Implementation science, the field that studies how to put evidence into practice, could help solve public health’s chronic communication problems by putting science to work to figure out how to bridge the gap between public health experts and the people with whom they are trying to communicate. This was the theme of the inaugural symposium of WashU School of Public Health’s Dissemination & Implementation Science Innovation Research Network (DISIRN) on Tuesday, February 10. The event, a convening titled “Implementation Science & the Public Health Information Ecosystem,” was held in WashU’s Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall. More than 100 people attended in person and just under 500 more tuned in online, representing 20 U.S. states, Australia and countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The first keynote address was delivered by Jessica Steier, DrPH, the founder and CEO of Unbiased Science, a communications hub dedicated to bringing health and science data to life in the real world. She emphasized the importance of respecting the ability of everyday people to understand nuanced scientific information and make decisions for themselves.  

“To say, ‘Vaccines are safe and effective’ in 2026 is a waste of your breath,” Steier said. “People need more than that. The bar has been raised. People don’t just want the what, they want the why. How do we know that they are safe and effective? What is the evidence? The traditional public health comms that were more paternalistic, more top-down, that’s not going to work anymore. People really want to be let in on the process, treated with respect, feel like they’re a part of the conversation.”

Heidi Miller, MD, chief medical officer of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, gave the second keynote address. Improving communication requires building trust with the public, she said, and trust comes from forming authentic connections and giving people a meaningful chance to decide what matters to them in terms of their health. 

“We have a long and ugly history of blaming patients, blaming the public, when they don’t do what we think they should,” Miller said. “It’s a reflection of this antiquated, paternalistic model of experts telling people what they should do, and then wondering why it’s not happening. I think in order to connect with people to improve health, we have to acknowledge the attitudes and expectations that we historically have had. It’s really important for public health and health-care professionals to get off the pedestal and to be able to engage people where they’re at.”

The keynote speeches and panel discussions also touched on the public’s hunger for trustworthy information and how public health experts can become trusted messengers; the importance of listening to people for the purpose of understanding what they value, rather than trying to find an opening to persuade them to a certain point of view; and the idea that while public health can be political, it need not be partisan.

See here to watch a recording of the event.

Photos from the event