Communication Team members of the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section asked friends, colleagues or family to comment on the Public Health Sticker campaign video clip recently released by the Association of Schools of Public Health. The video clip is animated and lively, and shows a group of college students putting stickers on objects that symbolize public health and explaining their reasons for doing so. Communication Team members were asked to show the clip to someone who did not know as much about public health, explain why this person was asked, and share their responses. This is what we learned:
I asked my son, Darius, because when he was in second grade,
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Darius as Captain Jack Sparrow |
a teacher's aide asked him what his mother does, and he said she is a doctor (and I am not). Ever since then, I have tried to explain to him what public health is. Now he is 10 years old, and in fourth grade, and the video clip engaged his interest. He said, "I think public health is about what is good for you and what is not." I was particularly struck to see the young man who said he thought public health was about cancer, and followed it up by smoking his cigarette.
– Priti Irani, Research Scientist, New York State Department of Health and CHPPD Chair Elect.
I had my sister review the clip. I chose her because she teaches a course on media and pop-culture to college freshman at Indiana University. I thought it would be interesting to see her perspective since she is in tune with how her students view health issues and ways of catching the attention of the lay population through media. Her thoughts: It was catchy and innovative. She felt like it was a representation of what we in public health strive to do -- educate and empower. In the beginning no one new what public health was, but by the end everyone was repeating the message of what public health is, indicating that the campaign was successful. She felt that a lay audience would understand the message and come away feeling excited about the idea of getting involved in public health in some way. She liked the documentary-style interviews and believes that this style appeals to young audiences.
– Ashley Wennerstrom, DrPH Student, University of Arizona and CHPPD Section Student Committee Chair.
I showed the video clip to my spouse and three children. My oldest child is out of college and working in the world of business. My other children are still in school -- one in college and one is still working his way through high school. Their comments follow:
"When this video started, it reminded me of the puzzled look I usually get when I tell people that your specialty is in public health. Many folks don't have a clue, responding, well, is that like, ummm, AIDS or something? I don't really know what that is. In a very simple way, the clip successfully demonstrates the wide range of issues in the field of public health."
"At first I didn't really get the video nor see where it was going. It helped me realize that all of your environment and surroundings contribute to your health, which isn't something I would have thought of otherwise."
"I thought the video was informative and will be a good tool for teaching the community about public health."
"I did not know much about public health until I saw this video, and now I have a better understanding about what it is."
- Charles Magruder, MD, Atlanta, Georgia.
I asked an author friend to review the video because she is both imaginative and resourceful, but generally secluded from everyday life due to her writing habits. She is very observant, and a good judge of character and reaction, so I asked her to view the video, then give me an immediate written response, which resulted in the following: "I myself was amazed at how many aspects of public health there are. Thought the progression from the 'huh?' looks at the beginning, through the sticker campaign, to the summary and responses at the end, did a nice job of presenting the topic."
- Tom Piper, Immediate Past-Chair, CHPPD, and Certificate of Need Director, Jefferson City, Missouri.
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| Cydney Urbanek |
I work in a lab area, and I randomly picked one of the laboratory technicians, Cydney Urbanek. I asked, "Do you know what public health is?" She had a blank face, and I asked her to watch the video. Cydney said "I did not realize how much public health affects the environment. I agree with riding bikes to decrease the amount of toxic fumes, and that’s why I ride my bike..."
– Dawn Alayon, Student, Univesity of Florida, Communications Team Liaison.
I had my wife view the video. While she is fairly educated, with an MA in Behavioral Science, and has worked for about 13 years as an autism specialist, she has a much different perspective from that of a public health practitioner. She is focused entirely on the individual, to the point that we used to have heated discussions concerning appropriate research techniques; behavior analysts often use sample sizes of four or five and generalize from these. Anyway, she thought it was neat the way everyday items were demonstrated as a "public" aspect of health and was surprised, in a positive way, by the inclusion of some (e.g., police car).
– Scott Koertner, Coordinator, Global Crisis Response, Heart to Heart International, Kansas.
To watch the video, 'What is Public Health?', visit http://www.whatispublichealth.org. You can also join in the Public Health Sticker campaign. Contact Laura Biesiadecki at lbiesiadecki@asph.org, and give her your e-mail address so you can be invited to the Flickr group, and a mailing address to where stickers can be sent. Instructions are posted at http://www.thisispublichealth.org/campaign.html.