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Davis County Health Department launches communications initiative, asks board to form prevention messaging work group
Summary
Health department staff introduced a new communications program aimed at "putting trust back into public health," showed early work with maternal and child health, and asked the board to form a work group to set prevention messaging priorities; several board members volunteered to participate.
Davis County Health Department staff on Aug. 12 introduced a new communications initiative designed to coordinate internal messaging, increase public trust and prioritize prevention-focused public-health messages.
A communications lead described a guide of principles and a structured workflow to plan, produce and evaluate outreach products, stressing collaboration across programs and local partners. "We have a new communications initiative. It's putting trust back into public health," the communications director said. Staff said the initiative will standardize branding, create a ticketed intake process for requests, and prioritize work so limited communications capacity can focus on high-impact messages.
Staff showed pilot work with the maternal-and-child health program, including English- and Spanish-language videos, postcards, tear-off flyers and outreach at community events to increase awareness of home-visiting "connection visits." They noted the materials addressed a community concern that cold calls or texts from public-health staff could be perceived as scams.
Trevor and Kristen O'Flaherty from the communications team described a workflow that begins with program goals and partner identification, then proceeds to targeted products, distribution planning and evaluation. They said the communications group will engage subject-matter experts across the department to maintain accuracy and credibility.
Department leadership asked the board to form a work group to help prioritize prevention-focused messages and provide strategic direction. The goal, staff said, is to ensure limited resources are used where they produce the largest public-health gain. The board agreed to form a work group and several members volunteered to participate; Joy Petro (Layton City mayor and board chair) explicitly volunteered, and other board members indicated willingness to join and to help connect department messaging to county and city distribution channels.
Staff said they will schedule an initial kickoff meeting at a time convenient for board members and department leadership, and will return to the board with a proposed set of priorities and a longer-term plan for communications work and resource allocation.
