Writing Beyond the Academic Context: Exploring Writing Among Public Health Practitioners

Public health work involves diverse types of writing to communicate health messages to various audiences. Clear, concise, audience-oriented writing is essential, yet public health practitioners often receive little training in effective writing. This study explores the writing public health practitioners do in their everyday work.

We emailed a web-based questionnaire in April 2024 to a sample of public health practitioners working in municipalities, regional health departments, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations in 5 regions in Sweden. The questionnaire asked about writing, support, professional development, and writing self-efficacy. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Seventy-two public health practitioners responded to our questionnaire. The most common types of writing that respondents reported engaging in were presentations (88.9%), reports (59.7%), and decision-making documents (47.2%). Scientific articles (75.0%), blog posts (69.4%), and opinion pieces (56.9%) were the least common. The most common target audiences were politicians, followed by managers and citizens. Colleagues provided the most common source of writing support, followed by communication officers and managers. Most practitioners reported a desire to develop their professional writing skills and achieve high self-efficacy in public health writing.

Public health practitioners in Sweden write more for politicians and managers than for the public. Expanding practitioners' writing skills beyond operational and technical document writing to include public-facing writing will benefit the public health profession by opening communication channels to diverse audiences. Communicating more clearly with public audiences can improve health literacy, promote health for all, and strengthen the effectiveness of public health initiatives.