According to Prof Elizabeth Lubinga, head of the department and webinar facilitator, the seminar provided attendees with a clear understanding of the differences between health and science communication and showcased the benefits of both. One of the attendees commented that she had always thought that science communication involved academic publications and presentations at conferences, mainly aimed at benefitting educated people in the field – the concept of communicating about science in a way that’s user-friendly and accessible to everyday people was a revelation.

Opportunities and challenges relating to inclusive PE strategies 

Three experts shared their insights on different aspects of health and science communication. First up was Dr Konosoang Sobane, chief research specialist at the HSRC, who presented on valorising science communication through inclusive PE. She discussed the strengths as well as barriers relating to inclusive PE practices by science granting councils (SGCs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on qualitative research conducted on 15 SGCs. 

The research findings revealed two positive trends, according to Konosoang. The first is SGCs’ use of digital and online communication for PE, which led to improved access to research and more consumer-driven research engagement as a larger network of people became involved in content consumption and dissemination. The other trend is a strong focus on inclusivity and gender in SGC policies, indicating a commitment to making research accessible to the public in co-creative and inclusive ways.

Nevertheless, SGCs face many challenges. The effective use of digital and social media is hampered by technical and logistical challenges, such as poor ITC skills (e.g. how to implement effective search engine optimisation), insufficient content updates and low engagement. Language barriers also compromise the reach and impact of PE efforts. In some instances, SGCs failed to contextualise the relevance of science to broader society. Konosoang made several recommendations, such as improved data sharing and impact practices and using goal-audience-message frameworks for inclusivity. Developing an inclusive multimodal PE strategy is especially important, since it could help to deliver a more holistic engagement experience for the intended audiences both online and offline. This could lead to greater transparency and reach, better stakeholder inclusion and accessibility, reporting efficiencies and potential for global collaborations.

The vital role of health journalism

The second speaker, Bibi-Aisha Wadiwalla, managing editor of Health-e News, talked about the role of health journalism in public communication and behaviour change. At its foundation, health journalism is about providing accurate content that is easy to understand and access. In this context, Bibi-Aisha emphasised that investigative journalism has a role to play in uncovering health issues and building public trust through credible reporting. She illustrated this through real-world examples. 

The first was how British health investigative journalist Brian Deer uncovered critical flaws in a 1998 article that suggested a causal relationship between autism and the childhood MMR vaccine that triggered plummeting vaccination rates. More recently, Covid-19 provided an excellent example of the extent to which the public relies on the media for information and the media’s role in not only disseminating information but also combatting misinformation.

Using communication to foster PE

Last on the agenda was Kulani Irish Chauke, corporate communication manager and acting media relations manager at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Using the CSIR election prediction model communication strategy and analysis for the 2024 election as an example, he illustrated the importance of communication in PE. 

The CSIR election prediction model can forecast election results with only 5% to 10% of the results counted, with accuracy increasing as more votes are counted. Communication about the model was targeted at three audiences: businesses that want to use forecasting to identify, for example, additional income streams, interested individuals and the general public from a developmental and science engagement point of view, and STEMI (science, technology, engineering, maths and innovation) thought leaders.

Analysing the communication activities and engagement about the model before, during and after the elections, the impact was clear. A few of the highlights that Kulani mentioned include almost R30 million worth of advertising value equivalent (AVE) from media engagements, more than 5 500 posts on X mentioning the CSIR and 16 000 people who engaged with CSIR content. On a broader scale, the benefits included stakeholder value creation, reinforcement of existing media relationships and the establishment of new relationships and promoting the CSIR’s capabilities to a wider audience.   

The Africa Centre’s interim director, Dr Burt Davis, could unfortunately not participate in the webinar due to personal reasons. His research on the efficacy of health-based photo novels – small booklets that combine posed photographs with simple text, typically depicting everyday stories and situations – has shown to have a wide social impact as health communication tool. Two of his self-developed and scientifically grounded photo novels, one focusing on tik (crystal meth) and the other on diabetes, have been used successfully by the Department of Health and various NGOs in the Western and Northern Cape to promote health awareness and health-based knowledge among vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

The fact that the majority of webinar attendees were postgraduate students who are at the start of their careers bodes well for cultivating a new generation of health and science experts who understand the value and importance of innovate, strategic communication.