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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1533393
This article is part of the Research Topic Empowering Individuals: Promoting Health Literacy through Curriculum and Science Communication View all 4 articles

Are you understanding what I am saying? The critical importance of communication competency in epidemiology

Provisionally accepted
Alison G Abraham Alison G Abraham 1,2*WayWay M Hlaing WayWay M Hlaing 3
  • 1 Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
  • 2 Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States
  • 3 Department of Public Health Sciences, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    There are myriad examples of poor communication by public health scientists and researchers that have resulted in lasting harm to individuals, communities, the field of epidemiology, and the broader field of public health. These examples underscore that science messages hinge not only on their merit alone but also on how effectively we communicate them. Here, we highlight the strong consensus in the epidemiology educational literature that epidemiology students should be trained to communicate effectively, specifically with the general public. This allows the public access to critical information that could affect their well-being. Most epidemiology programs in academia do not focus on the skills needed to translate scientific evidence and its uncertainty into a comprehensible and culturally appropriate message to the diverse public composed of varying race/ethnicities as well as varying health and numerical literacy levels. We provide guidance on which specific communication skills may be most important for epidemiologists facing the growing health misinformation and disinformation epidemic. We also describe what a communication-focused curriculum might look like, given that communication skills cannot be learned solely through traditional coursework. Lastly, we address barriers that have prevented communication skills from being meaningfully incorporated in epidemiology curricula.

    Keywords: Communication, Curriculum, Epidemiology, misinformation, training

    Received: 23 Nov 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Abraham and Hlaing. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alison G Abraham, Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.