Description
Each student will select a health behavior-related issue. will design a social media campaign video/printed materials designed to encourage/support a behavior change. The campaign can focus on either prevention or intervention. will define their target audience/population(s) and formulate specific campaign goals and objectives.
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Plain Language for
Public Health
Contents
About Plain Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Prepare Your Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Develop and Organize Your Communications . . . 5
Review and Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Plain Language Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
About Plain Language
What is Plain Language?
Plain language is communication that is clear, accessible, and useful. The Plain Language Action and Information
Network (PLAIN) offers a three-part definition of plain language:
Plain language helps your audience to:
Find what they need
Understand the information the
Use the information to
first time they read or hear it
meet their needs.
Source: www.plainlanguage.gov/about/definitions/
How Can Plain Language Advance Public Health?
Effective public health communications is critical to help people stay informed and make decisions about their health.
Information about public health can be confusing, jargony, and fast-changing, so communicating in plain language helps
to translate and distill what people need to know. When accurate information about public health is hard to find or
understand, it also becomes easier for false and misleading information to take hold.
Using plain language can advance health literacy, build trust in your organization as a source of information, and
promote overall community health. While plain language won’t solve every public health communication challenge, all
health communications can be made more effective by communicating plainly.
How to Use this Guide
In this guide, you’ll find plain language principles, simple techniques that can make your communications more
accessible, and resources to learn more about plain language. The sections of this guide contain best practices and tools
to use before you start writing, when you’re organizing your content, while you’re writing, and when you’re reviewing
and testing your communications. The guide ends with additional resources to help you continue to build your plain
language communications skills.
This guide is organized into four sections:
•
Step 1: Prepare Your Communications
•
Step 2: Develop and Organize Your Communications
•
Step 3: Review and Testing
•
Plain Language Resources
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STEP 1
Prepare Your Communications
Before creating your messaging materials, you should know who your audience is
and the goal(s) of your content. This section covers what you should know about
your audience and how to define the goals of your messages and content.
Audience
Understanding your audience’s needs and interests will help you create messaging that is simple, relevant, engaging,
and clear. Because you need to communicate with diverse groups of people, think about your audience in specific
terms, and not just as the “general public.” The more you know about your audience and the more specific you can be,
the better you can tailor your message.
Before you start writing, try to answer the following questions.
Question
Why do you want to know this?
Who is my target audience?
These factors will influence how you write and deliver your message—and
Consider age, language, cultural
how your message will be heard.
background, household size,
occupation, etc.
Is there a smaller group within
Being as specific as possible will ensure that the appropriate people receive
my audience that I need to
and understand your message.
address directly?
What does my target audience
Based on what your audience already knows, thinks, and feels, you can make
understand and believe about
decisions about how much background you need to provide and what other
this topic?
information they need to fully understand your message.
What questions might my
Anticipate their questions and include them proactively.
target audience have about this
topic?
Where and when are they
Considering the place, time, and medium (e.g., digital, print) they will get this
most likely to see this
information will help you share your message in a timely and appropriate
communication?
way.
What steps do I need to take
Understanding the ways that people receive information, along with the
to ensure my message is
barriers they might face to receive information, helps you create a message
accessible?
that reaches your target audience. Consider your audience’s language,
technology, and access to communications channels. Apply accessibility best
practices to content across formats.
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Example: Defining Your Audience and Goals
Imagine you are preparing multilingual communications on the
importance of flu vaccines for populations at high risk for severe
illness. The process of determining your audience may look like this:
Who is my target audience?
•
•
What questions might they have?
Older adults, caregivers of young
•
Do I really need a flu shot every year?
children, and their families.
•
Is it too early or too late to get a flu shot?
English-speakers, Spanish-speakers,
•
How do I schedule an appointment?
Vietnamese-speakers. (See call
•
Is the flu shot safe for me?
out box for more information)
•
What else should I do to keep
my family and myself safe?
What do they already understand or need to
know more about this topic?
What are your communication goals?
They are likely aware that the flu season is coming
Knowing the goals of your communications will help
up, but they might need a refresher on:
you decide what to include and where to publish
•
The safety and effectiveness of flu vaccines.
•
Where and when to schedule a flu vaccine.
•
Who is most at risk for severe
your content. Before you start writing, determine
what the intended outcome of your message is.
Goals for this communication may include:
illness from the flu.
•
Provide updated guidance
about the flu season.
Where and when are they most likely to see this
•
Increase awareness about who
is most at risk for severe flu.
communication?
People in these communities have responded well
•
Increase the flu vaccination rates in
the specific target communities.
to postcards and email marketing, so I will include
messaging in our regular e-newsletter and monthly
•
Debunk misinformation spreading
about the flu shot.
community brochure mailing. Also, it will be
important to make information available at schools,
health clinics, and community centers.
Plain Language and Translations
Ask yourself:
Before you start writing, decide what languages
are most effective to communicate with your
•
Are you working with a professional
audiences. Prioritizing translations and multilingual
translator? Do you need to share any
communications from the start, as needed based on
localized context to inform the translation?
the context, will help you create materials that are
•
accessible, understandable, and culturally relevant.
How can you involve individuals
from the community in the creation
or review of the material?
While many of the plain language best practices in
this guide are relevant across languages, some of
•
the tips may not always be relevant. For more plain
Are you using imagery? Are the images
and photos culturally relevant?
language resources in languages other than English,
•
visit plain language around the world.
Are there words, phrases, or topics that
are culturally sensitive or have different
connotations across audience?
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STEP 2
Develop and Organize Your Communications
Now that you have a strong understanding of your audience and the goals of your
message, it’s time to develop your material. In this section, you’ll find tips on how to
create clear, audience-centered messaging and how to effectively organize your
messages for different platforms.
Audience-Centered Writing
You will likely address community members differently than you would your public health colleagues. You should center
your audience when communicating about public health, using the following tactics:
Use everyday words and avoid jargon. When working in a professional setting within your field, you might use
words that are not widely understood by your audience. When you need to use scientific or technical terms, define or
reword them as needed in plain language.
Non-Conversational (uses jargon)
Conversational (uses plain language)
Our organization’s Q1 goals and objectives led to
There are 35 spots available for our local heart health
this year’s increase in capacity for our community
support group! If you’re interested in joining, please fill
cardiovascular health support group. If you are
out the form below, and we’ll be in touch.
interested in submitting an application, please detail
your interest and contact information.
Use short sentences with an active voice. Short, concise sentences are more conversational and easier to
understand. You should use the active voice where the sentence starts with the subject followed by the verb and
object. When using the passive voice, the subject (often the most important piece of information) is near the end of
the sentence. This active voice puts the important information (who? what?) at the beginning of the sentence, which
requires less mental effort from your reader.
Passive Voice
Active Voice
Taking the time to visit the dentist twice a year for a
Everyone ages 2 and up should get their teeth cleaned
cleaning is recommended for most people over the age
every 6 months.
of two years old.
Use “you.” Writing in the second person makes your content more conversational and accessible. It helps the reader
understand that you are sharing information meant specifically for them.
Third Person
Second Person
All students are encouraged to wash their hands often
Remember to wash your hands! Washing your hands
to prevent the spread of germs.
will keep you and your classmates safe from germs.
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User-Friendly Organization
The words you use matter, but it also matters how you organize them on the page. In the age of fast-paced messaging,
people generally skim content, whether in print or online. User experience experts have learned a lot through eyetracking research about how individuals review and process information. Based on this research, there are many simple
design and organization choices that make interacting with your message as easy as possible—including headings,
bullets, and other formatting. Whether you’re creating web content or writing an email, article, e-newsletter, or social
media post, consider the following techniques.
BLUF. BLUF is an acronym that stands for Bottom Line Up Front. Put the most important information you want your
audience to read and understand at the front/top of the document. Even if they don’t read the document through the
end, you may still achieve the goal of your messaging using this technique.
Burying the Lede
Bottom Line Up Front
There has been a water main break in the City of
Do not use tap water to drink, brush your teeth, wash
Waterville. City technicians are determining the scope
produce, or feed your pets as it may pose a health
and source of the problem and are at work to fix
risk. City of Waterville residents should use boiled and
the issue. Until then, drinking, brushing your teeth,
cooled water only until further notice.
washing produce, and feeding your pets with tap water
The boil water advisory is the result of a water main
may pose a health risk. A boil water advisory is in effect
break. City technicians are working to fix the issue. We
until further notice.
will update you when the issue has been resolved.
Headers and Lists. Headers are a great way to make text-heavy content more digestible. Break your content into
sections and include headers for each section so that readers can jump to the information they need. Also break up
paragraphs and make bulleted or numbered lists to make your content more digestible.
A Long Trail of Commas
A Bulleted List
To reduce the spread of flu you should get vaccinated,
There are many ways to reduce the spread of flu. You
wash your hands, stay home if you’re sick, avoid close
should:
contact with people who are sick, and avoid touching
• Get your flu shot
your eyes, mouth, or nose.
• Wash your hands
• Stay home if you’re sick
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick
• Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.
Descriptive Links. Descriptive links can support accessibility within your message. Readers want to know what
hyperlinks lead to, and descriptive links will help them decide whether they want to click. Descriptive links also support
SEO as search engines will be able to better determine the content of your webpage.
Click Here
Descriptive Link
Good ventilation can help prevent you from getting
Good ventilation can help prevent you from getting
and spreading respiratory viruses. To review 6 tips
and spreading respiratory viruses. Here are 6 tips to
to improve ventilation and air quality in your home,
improve ventilation and air quality in your home.
click here.
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STEP 3
Review and Testing
You’ve determined your audience and goal, centered your audience when writing,
and organized your content in a way that’s easy to navigate and understand. Now,
another best practice is to review and test your material before you release it.
Whenever possible, testing your public health communication will help determine
whether your audience can understand and engage with the content successfully.
This section covers how to approach internal review and user testing.
Testing Messages
When you hear “testing” in the context of public health communications, you might think about research that explores
how different messages resonate with a target audience. As a plain language practice, the goal of testing is to make sure
your audience can find what they need and understand what they find. In this guide, we’re discussing testing for plain
language and comprehension— and not about other kinds of message testing (like polling and focus grouping) that
focus on framing and resonance.
Test your materials as early as possible, revise based on the feedback you receive, and then test again.
You can conduct internal reviews and/or user testing, and ideally you would do both. Internal review is a good first step,
as it can help you quickly get feedback about how clear your materials are, and you can make needed changes before
conducting an external review. However, internal reviewers aren’t an exact match for your target audience, or even if
they are, they might have subject matter expertise that the typical person doesn’t. Testing materials with members of
your target audience helps you understand a lot more about how much your materials resonate and if your materials
elicit the intended outcome. User testing is more expensive and takes more time, so it may not always be possible
depending on your budget and how quickly you need to release your materials.
Internal Review
Internal review is a useful first step in determining whether a message is clear and serves its intended purpose. Internal
review can be done by a colleague who didn’t write the material. Seek feedback from a colleague who isn’t in your
department and is not involved with the subject material. If you make any edits to put the material in plain language, a
subject matter expert should then review it to make sure that the content is still accurate.
Questions to Ask Your Reviewer
•
In your own words, what do you
•
think the goal of this content is?
•
•
call(s) to action for our goals?
Who do you understand the audience
•
Are there any words that are
of this message to be?
confusing or technical that can be
How could we make this messaging more
replaced with a simpler word?
relevant to our target audience?
•
Have we included the appropriate
•
Did you have to read any section of the
draft twice before you understood it?
Is the most important information clearly stated?
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User Testing
After completing an internal review, testing your materials with people in your target audience can help you confirm
and add new or additional details to the internal feedback you received. In particular, user testing helps you understand
more about how relevant, useful, and resonant the content is.
The approach to testing your materials may vary across type of material, rapid response vs. planned content, and other
organizational factors. That said, here are a few questions to discuss internally when creating your user testing strategy:
•
Who should be included in the user testing? The people reviewing your content should represent your
target audience. Consider what you know about your audience and goals when deciding who should review your
messaging.
•
What are we testing for? Decide what information you want to gain and design your testing approach and
any questions for your audience accordingly. There are many themes and questions you can ask your audience
when testing your public health content:
• Is the content easy to read and understand?
Readability
• Are there words or phrases that are confusing or not detailed enough?
• How many times did you have to read this message to understand it?
• How did you access this content? Does this work on different browsers and
Accessibility
on desktop and mobile?
• Is this graphic easy to read and understand?
• Does this relate to you or someone you know?
Relevance
• Do you feel like this content was designed to support your lifestyle and health
needs?
• Would you be able to easily relay this message to a friend or family member?
• How does the information make you feel (e.g., excited, anxious, scared)?
Reactions
• What does this information make you want to do (nothing, share the content,
another action)?
•
How should we test? Start by creating your own plan for testing or developing a simple survey. There are
many testing techniques to explore. PLAIN offers additional information on testing techniques to help you
decide which would work best for your organization’s needs:
»
Paraphrase testing: In paraphrase testing, the reviewer will share their interpretation of the information in
your message. Their understanding can help inform whether your message is being accurately presented.
»
Usability testing: In usability testing, the reviewer uses your document, website, or other resource to find
information. Their ability to find the information can help inform whether your resource can be easily used
to provide readers with the information they need.
»
Controlled comparative studies: In controlled comparative studies, two resources are compared in testing
to give quantitative data on which version leads to the goal.
•
What do we do with the feedback? Once you make revisions to the original content based on the
feedback you received, you should plan to test the content again.
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LEARN MORE
Plain Language Resources
Communicating in plain language can help your organization advance health
literacy, build trust, and promote overall community health. Additional resources are
available to help make your public health communications even more effective
and clear.
Public Health Resources
•
Talking Health: A New Way to Communicate About Public Health | de Beaumont Foundation
•
Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective | Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
•
Plain Language Health Resources | Literacyworks
•
EveryDay Words – Search | CDC
General Tools and Resources
•
Federal Plain Language Guidelines | PlainLanguage.gov
•
Checklist for Plain Language on the Web | PlainLanguage.gov
•
Readability Tool | WebFX
•
Vaccine Messaging Guide | UNICEF
•
Health Literacy – Testing | CDC
About PHCC
The Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC)
creates and amplifies tools, resources, and learning
opportunities for communicators designed to address public
health issues, build public confidence, and identify and
counter misinformation. Initially formed in August 2020 to
@PH_Comms
provide science-based messaging resources on the COVID-19
pandemic, today PHCC supports communicators on a range of
Public Health Communications Collaborative
timely issues across the field of public health—working toward
a world where everyone has access to the information they
publichealthcollaborative.org
need to make good decisions about their health.
As a collaborative, PHCC draws on the expertise, insights,
and on-the-ground knowledge of its partner network and
public health leaders. Four Organizing Partners steer the
collaborative: CDC Foundation, the de Beaumont Foundation,
The Kresge Foundation, and Trust for America’s Health.
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