Files and links (1)
Health Prom J of Aust - 2023 - Buckley - Spokespeople in public health Important characteristics from the perspective of558.85 kB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Spokespeople in public health: Important characteristics from the perspective of Australian public health professionals
Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Vol.35(3), pp.829-834
2024
PMID: 37579756
Abstract
Background
Spokespeople play a significant role in communicating public health information yet there is little research understanding the characteristics of those who provide such messaging.
Methods
One hundred and four health professionals (70% female) recruited through professional association mailing lists in Australia completed a brief online quantitative and qualitative survey.
Results
Participants reported characteristics they believed to be important for spokespeople, those that they believed their organisation considered important, and those they thought engendered public trust. Knowledge of public health issues, public speaking skills, and willingness to speak on behalf of the organisation were identified as important characteristics (by at least 70%). Qualitative results showed some participants distinguished between perceived, as well as actual, expertise, and described the potential for public health university programs to include public speaking and communication skills. Participants also identified an individual's role in the organisation was considered important in their organisation's selection of a spokesperson, particularly in relation to seniority and leadership.
Conclusions
The study provides an initial description and priority considerations from health professionals about key characteristics of effective spokespeople. Findings suggest possible avenues for training and support for spokespeople and the need for further research regarding the characteristics of who are effective spokespeople.
So What?
Findings suggest possible avenues for training and support for spokespeople and the need for further research regarding the characteristics of who are effective spokespeople.
Details
- Title
- Spokespeople in public health: Important characteristics from the perspective of Australian public health professionals
- Authors
- Lisa Buckley (Corresponding Author) - The University of QueenslandKylie Morphett (Author) - The University of QueenslandLucie Rychetnik (Author) - The University of SydneyMary-Anne Land (Author) - Public Health Association of AustraliaKatherine Cullerton (Author) - The University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Vol.35(3), pp.829-834
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1002/hpja.788
- ISSN
- 2201-1617; 1036-1073
- PMID
- 37579756
- Copyright note
- © 2023 The Authors. Health Promotion Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
- Data Availability
- The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- Organisation Unit
- Road Safety Research Collaboration; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991003698702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
88 File views/ downloads
24 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites