My interactions with the health system as a child were shaped by small details and careful reassurances. Like many other children, these details came in the form of smiley cartoon stickers, lollipops, and bead maze toys at my pediatrician’s office. Signs that communicated a clear message that the doctor’s office was a comfortable, safe space regardless of imminent needles and shots.
These spaces are intentionally designed to communicate a message, a message that I perhaps would have disregarded before. Of course there are toys to entertain children in a pediatrician’s office, isn’t that a logical assumption? Why look into it more? However, my time as a Karel Fellow and Families USA Communications Intern has taught me not to overlook even the most minor details and their importance to communications strategy.
At Families USA, I have had the opportunity to engage in everything from visual design to blog drafting. It was not until I delved into creating these items that I realized how many smaller decisions culminate into a larger chain of messaging.
Never did I think putting together a press list would require hours of meticulously scouring through news sites, journalist databases and social media pages. There were hundreds of smaller decisions that went into who I included in the list. I looked at reporters’ past articles and tried to discern what each piece implied of the reporter’s expertise. Would it be better to include a journalist who covers state politics or medical technology? This reporter has written on health care policy in the past, but has focused on business stories in the last couple of months. Would it still be a good idea to include them on the list? Who would be more suited to the story? In one case, I was about to add a journalist only to discover through a dive in their social media that they were transitioning away from covering the health beat–this isn’t something I would have known simply by looking at their bio.
Becoming attuned to these messages has allowed me to be more receptive to what is conveyed in a single visual or written frame. When tasked with examining a congressional hearing recording, I made it a point to pay attention to people’s tones, what subjects they brought up, and their line of questioning. Beforehand, I might have simply analyzed the literal meaning of their words and called it a day, however noting these details from a communications standpoint allowed me to make thorough, in-depth observations.
The Karel Fellowship has enriched my perspective for the benefit of supporting health care advocacy initiatives that promote affordable, high-quality health care as a human right, rather than an economic incentive. I have had the privilege to see first-hand how Families USA uplifts the voices of the most vulnerable–of those left to fend off high prescription costs and inaccessible care.
In these four short weeks I can already feel the growth and difference in my mindset. I didn’t used to be someone who fixated on details, preferring to break down larger concepts and taking my understanding from there rather than working from the ground up. I’m learning that communications is not just about what is being said, but also what is not said. For the rest of the summer, I look forward to continue learning about public interest communications past the abstract and applying it into concrete strategy.