Creating effective messages about environmental health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported research coordinated by the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) for the purpose of developing effective messages about environmental health. The purpose of these messages would be to increase the visibility of the environmental health profession and improve the public's awareness and understanding of the role played by the profession in protecting the public's health. To accomplish this task, AEHAP first collaborated with a marketing team to develop initial test messages. The core message revolved around five major themes: effects of pollution, susceptible populations, economics and prevention, homeland security, and specific environmental health issues. The draft messages were tested in three focus group settings: 1) policy makers, 2) environmental health professionals, and 3) the general public. This paper reports a finding that there is a perceptual gap among environmental health professionals, policy makers, and the public. This gap is part of why there is a compelling need for the environmental health community to develop and disseminate more effective messages about the profession.