College of Public Health and Human SciencesCommunicating About Public Health PolicyPresenter: Craig Mossbaek Date: August 22, 2013

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Communications in the Policy Process

• Big factors driving the policy process are communications and relationships• The main audiences are:• The policy makers, e.g., elected officials• Stakeholders who care about the issue and can put pressure on the

policy makers• The general public, who can become stakeholders

• In this section, we are going to focus on communicating with a policy maker or key stakeholder.

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Communications - Goals

• Get the policy maker or stakeholder to support the policy and to make it their priority• Making it a priority is important• There is often more work to be done before policy adoption, and

additional resources can help• Policy making bodies deal with many issues, and some important issues

will not be addressed

• Show that the policy effort is being done in a smart, strategic, professional manner

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Communications - Goals

When communicating with someone who is likely to remain in opposition to the policy…• Get the policy maker or stakeholder NOT to make opposing the

policy a priority• Find common ground and listen to their concerns• Show that the policy effort is being done in a smart, strategic,

professional manner

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Communications - General Rules

• Know your audience - what is the person’s background, opinions, priorities?• Do your homework - what else is happening in that person’s

world?• Chose the best person to do the communication –

relationships, credibility• Know the content – the problem you are trying to solve, the

policy solution, and the politics involved

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Communicating with Policy Makers

• As they are busy people, communications need to be short, clear, and accurate (longer, backup documents can be used)• Respect their staff and understand staff’s important role• Understand your relationship with the policy maker

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The Meeting with a Policy Maker or Stakeholder

• Tell them about your goals for the meeting• Listen to what the person says and the questions asked – this

tells you about their concerns (or possibly about the opposition’s talking points)• Thank them for whatever support they have offered or just for

taking the time to talk• Arrange quickly for any follow-up, such as additional

information

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As a public health folks, we need to make sure that we…

• Spend more time talking about the policy solution than the problem• Don’t use too many numbers or statistics • Understand and honor the implications of the policy in

addition to the impact on health, economics, politics, etc.

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Group Activity Policy Communication Practice

• Groups of three that don’t include another member of your team

• Everybody gets a chance to play each role• Presenter: present the proposed policy to encourage the listener to

support the policy• Listener: listen to presenter and ask clarifying questions• Observer: serve as timekeeper and provide feedback

• The listener should play a policy maker or stakeholder and will be assigned to play someone who leans towards being a supporter or a resister/skeptic

• About 5-7 minutes for the presentation and 5-7 minutes for feedback, then switch roles

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