Novel Science communication – how to build public health knowledge across the social gradient. The Healthy Choices Project (WP5).

Everyday life consists of hundreds of choices of which many may have an impact on our health. The citizens of the modern Nordic welfare states are in general well-educated and thus can be assumed to know what is best for them. Despite this our health care systems face an increasing burden of lifestyle related diseases and there is a difference across the social gradient. Here building public health knowledge through communication is key. The reason for people making unhealthy choices are many and can be that; they do not know what is good for them (lack information) or do not understand (lack understanding) or do not care (carelessness). However it seems likely that it is more complex than that. Maybe they do not receive the information, because gets conveyed through channels that they do not consult or maybe the format of the message does not ‘click’? Could it be, that ‘one media message or channel does not fit all’? 

Over the last decades there has been an increased focus from both scientists themselves and politicians to scientific and practical field of ‘science communication’. Consequently, various advanced modes of communicating e.g. health issues to the general populations have been developed, and today scholars of Mass Media term this development the ‘scientification’ of media. Furthermore, media and information availability has exploded since the emergence of the Internet in the early 1990s. Research has indicated that social gradient also is a factor affecting a person’s media consumption and habit.  

In the healthy choices project we aim through novel methods to learn more about these challenges and at the develop new methods of conveying public health knowledge to enable people to make healthier choices across the social gradient. We have so far built a framework for this including a science group, consisting of public health experts, and a communication group consisting of experienced science communicators. The Science group is consulted about risk factors and health endpoints and what to prioritize. Two PhD students will be involved in; 1) assessing media consumption and usage related to health issues across social classes (Low social gradient versus high social gradient) and across the generational gap (young and elderly) and 2) develop and test various media message formats for target groups including considerations of the social gradient. This project will provide new understanding on how to communicate public health messages and reduce social inequalities in health.