Building Bridges between the Public and Private Sectors to Boost Health Communication Efforts!

Background:

• As the digital age continues to change the way we receive news, information, and updates, it is important now more than ever to ensure that public health messaging reaches intended audiences.

Program background:

• Traditional forms of sharing information such as email or text messages are still relevant communication tools but to reach new and different audiences, creativity is key! It is also important to note that while content is important both in written and visual form, it is just as important to consider distribution of that content.

Evaluation Methods and Results:

• Many public health communicators frequently work with budget constraints that may limit or prevent the use of creative firms to develop content or paid marketing. The development of relationships with private sector partners could offer a win-win solution for agencies or groups who have public health information to share and private sector companies or entities who could also benefit from sharing that information with their consumers or customers. In this session, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will present our partnerships with two private sector entities, a meal kit delivery company and a grocery company and share the different ways that we have worked together to achieve mutually beneficially results.

Conclusions:

• FSIS and our partners defined success at the start of the partnership and developed strategies to achieve those goals. Throughout our collaboration, FSIS serves as subject matter experts on food safety education content, while our partners serve as tech experts and make relevant elements of their platform available for optimal content distribution. Together we’ve created a win-win partnership that allows our partners to earn affinity and loyalty for their brand and FSIS to distribute our food safety messages at scale.

Implications for research and/or practice:

• N/A