Diminishing confidence in conventional information sources and an increase in ease of access to health-related material online has led the public to turn to a wider variety of information sources than ever before.
This changing communications landscape has upended some widely held conventions in health risk and safety communications practices, leading to the need for a new, broadened, and updated approach. To build a new framework for health risk and safety communications, the Foundation conducted multi-phase research to understand how and where people get their health information. Our research led to the development of seven core communications principles for how to best frame messaging around health risks and safety of FDA regulated products. These principles underwent robust quantitative testing, which demonstrated that applying them to existing health messages improved the ability to effectively meet consumers on their terms and helped direct the public to action.
This project is supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award of $505,000 in federal funds (100% of the project). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by FDA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit FDA.gov