Communications Breakdown: What Works (and Doesn't) in Health and Science Communication
Communications Breakdown is a new podcast that breaks down what works (and doesn't) in health and science communication. Hosted by Tracy Mehan and Katrina Boylan, this podcast brings you into their world of research translation, health promotion, public health communications strategy, website and social media management, graphic design, and much more.
Communications Breakdown: What Works (and Doesn't) in Health and Science Communication
From Reflection To Resolve: Ringing In 2026
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Some years ask for grit; this one demanded it. We’re closing out the year with a quick conversation about what felt heavy, what still matters, and how we plan to communicate with more heart and clarity in 2026. Our strategy: find the helpers, connect intentionally, and elevate the people doing work we admire.
In this episode:
• Reflections on burnout, fear, and uncertainty
• Authenticity as a strategy in an AI and misinformation era
• Courage to take risks and speak clearly about evidence
• Taking time to celebrate our achievements
• Talk to us: let us know what you want to hear in 2026
Links:
Katelyn Jetelina (Your Local Epidemiologist): https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/about
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This podcast is a project of the Center for Injury Research Translation and Communication (CIRTC). Connect with CIRTC: www.cirtc.org
Find CIRTC on LinkedIn, Bluesky, and YouTube.
Note: all thoughts and opinions shared in this podcast are personal and not representative of any organization.
Welcome to Communications Breakdown, where we break down what works and doesn't in health and science communication. I'm Katrina Boylan
Tracy:and I'm Tracy Mehan. So we're at the end of the year, and like many of you were in a reflective space. We've been thinking about what we accomplished this past year and what we want to take on in the year to come. We were thinking about how we wanted to close out the year with this episode of the podcast. And honestly, we struggled a little bit. It was a really hard year for a lot of us, and we wanted to acknowledge that.
Katrina:Yeah, you know, I think a lot of us in communications or in public health or in, you know, kind of other fields that that serve people that might be our listeners. I think we're naturally optimistic people. And I know everyone's trying to be positive, us included. But I agree with you. I think sometimes we we do need to give that space to acknowledge that, you know, it's it's pretty bad out there right now. You know, a lot of things that we value and have relied on are being threatened. And it it is tough to always put that good face on.
Katrina:And so, you know, behind the scenes, that's how we're feeling. And that's how we've heard a lot of you are feeling too. And so we just wanted to take a minute to reflect that and say, you know, we do see you, we do hear you. We're feeling it ourselves. We know how hard it's been. And we know uh that that a lot of us are are pretty worried about what might be coming. And so again, we just want to say it's okay to take a minute and say yes, but a really hard year.
Katrina:But we know that we cannot give up, you know, we've got to keep going. And so as we reflect, we're also talking about how do we balance out that acknowledgement of yeah, times are are tough at the moment, but but how can we keep going? You know, we can't change everything. And so what we've resolved to do is what we can, you know, from from our little neck of the woods. Uh, you know, we can't do everything, but we we're gonna do what we can and and we're gonna just try to stick together.
Tracy:Yeah, when we were talking about what that might look like for this episode, you reminded me of the Fred Rogers quote, "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news. My mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."
Tracy:And that's who our people are, right? We are those helpers. And there are a lot of us out there who really truly believe in the work that we are doing, who are amazing advocates for the ideas that that we think are important and who are supporting our community. And so that is one of the things that we are committing to doing over the next year. We are intentionally going to connect with other people. We are going to look for those helpers. We want to hear other voices of other people who are in this work, doing this work, and making a difference.
Katrina:Absolutely. I think what you know I'm pulling from our discussions about what we're doing next year is also a real focus on authenticity. And I think that's what people are really craving right now. And we work with people that, as you said, love what they do and believe in what they do. They're they're working from authentic places. It's just we're not hearing about them necessarily, or they're they're, you know, there are other forces that are are changing things.
Katrina:But I also think that we're kind of living in a an increasingly kind of manufactured kind of world with the rise of AI and other things like that, misinformation, disinformation. And so, you know, authenticity and things that are real have even more value. And so what I really am gonna focus on in the next year is is that um, how can we be more authentic and more real and provide that more value?
Katrina:And just so, you know, a moment of of kind of reflection from our end is when we've looked back at the the way this podcast has gone and we looked back at our goals, authenticity was uh one of our stated goals. And so when we look back at the process of how we've created this podcast, though, we realized that the way that we've gone about creating these podcasts doesn't always deliver what I think is the most authentic versions of ourselves. And so we're gonna be tweaking our own processes and looking at things from different angles and taking, you know, some different um approaches to try to refocus on our authentic selves, our, you know, our you know what what we got in this to do.
Tracy:Yeah. And for me, that might mean I have to face a fear, right? Some of you know I right. It it means some of why we've done the things the way we've done them is because I want to make sure that I sound really polished and we have our ideas all the way thought out. And that's okay. Um, but we're gonna try it and with our authenticity, that means maybe we aren't as polished and that's okay. And maybe how people need to hear us and how they'll receive our messaging, they might actually like it better if we aren't as polished, right?
Katrina:Right, yep, yep.
Tracy:And that's hard for me. And you know, I want to acknowledge that, but also I think it's hard for us as a field. I think we have to be so perfect and so right and make sure we get everything exactly how it should be that we've lost a little bit of our connection with our audiences because that's not how real life is. Real life is messy and real life is hard. And real life means sometimes you can't do it perfectly. So, what does it look like to do public health in the messy, not perfect spaces?
Katrina:Yeah, you know, I really am looking also towards um people that I think are doing it well, you know, and things that, you know, people who are authentic, but still out there with a message and a scientific perspective and and and and facts. You know, we've talked about some of them already on this podcast, but I think the other thing, you know, we can do is look at at who's doing it well and and maybe take some cues from them as well.
Tracy:Yeah, you know, you have heard me talk a lot about Katelyn Jetelina, who is from Your Local Epidemiologist. If you have not looked at her materials, go out and find her. She does she's doing amazing work.
Tracy:But I listened to her, um, I don't even remember if it was a webinar or where I heard this, but she was talking about what can public health communicators do right now. And one of the things she said was, we can be brave. And that really has stuck with me. It's something that I think we don't always do a really good job of. And it's something that I am really wanting to embrace and take into next year. I want to be brave, I want to take risks. We're gonna continue to use our voice because I think our public health and health communications voices matter now more than ever. So it's something that that we are committing to.
Tracy:So we would love to hear from you about what you're committing to. This year, Katrina and I did something that was a little scary to us and we took a risk. And we feel really proud of the fact that we put this podcast out into the world and that people are responding to it. We actually looked just this morning and found that we have reached people in 213 cities across 27 countries through this podcast. And, you know, when we started, we didn't know. We didn't know if it would strike a chord with people, we didn't know if it would resonate. And those numbers, that's exciting, right?
Tracy:So we want to ask something of you now. We want to keep doing this work, but we need your help. We need you to tell us what is resonating with you. What do you like hearing from us? What topics? Are there people you want us to talk to? Let us know. And I will tell you every single time we get a comment from you, whether it's an email or a comment on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening, that stuff matters. So reach out to us. We need to hear from you about what is it you want to hear from us and what's what do you like about what we've done already?
Katrina:Yeah, you know, I think this is how we're gonna try to achieve what we talked about a little bit earlier about being intentional and connecting with audience or or you know, our community. Um if you're listening to us, you clearly think this matters too. And so how can we connect? How can we build that community with you? Come and talk to us.
Katrina:Um, there is one other way you can do that. Um, if you look in the show notes, there should be an option to send us a text. And believe it or not, it goes uh straight to our inbox here on our podcast platform. And we do look at all of that, and it does matter to us. We are real people here behind you know the scenes doing this. And it it really does mean the world to us that people have listened and those who have left comments or sent us, you know, feedback of any type. We just we appreciate you so, so much.
Tracy:So reach out to us. We're on LinkedIn and Blue Sky as CIRTC, that is C-I-R-T-C. And please follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, wherever you listen, so you can get notified when we post new episodes. We're also sharing the episodes on YouTube, so you can subscribe over there if you prefer. Just search for Communications Breakdown.
Katrina:All right. Well, that's it for this episode. And we'll just say it one more time. We are incredibly grateful for all of you. We'll see you back here in January. Thanks for listening.
