The Public Health Communication Competency Framework: Results from a multi-method and consensus-building process

Public health practice necessitates effective health communication. Now, more than ever, public health practitioners must possess the competencies - the skills, knowledge, and attitudes - to communicate effectively. Using a robust, multi-step, multi-method research process, we sought to develop a set of communication competency statements for public health professionals in Canada, in communication-focused roles.

Following earlier research steps that included scoping reviews, environmental scans, a national survey (n = 378), and key informant interviews (n = 12), which established an initial set of competency statements, a modified Delphi technique was conducted with a panel of public health communication experts which included two online survey rounds (n = 19, n = 18) with one virtual meeting (n = 7) in between to develop consensus on the initial competency statements. An a priori threshold for consensus of 75% agreement was set.

After the second Delphi survey, participants reached consensus on all competency statements with 96% of participants agreeing with each statement on average, an increase from the first Delphi survey. Between the two Delphi surveys, revisions were made to the statements based on quantitative and qualitative participant feedback.

The research has resulted in 18 communication competency statements comprising the Public Health Communication Competency Framework, which are intended to serve as a roadmap for public health professionals whose roles encompass communication, guide curricula development in public health programs, catalyze professional development in communication, and support public health systems to achieve the essential public health functions.