For public health professionals and advocates who want to communicate more effectively with the housing, education, health systems, and business sectors about the value of collaboration
#6
Appeal to the Value of Investment to orient thinking toward tangible long-term gains
The Goal & The Challenge
When the goal is… to help other sectors recognize that we all stand to benefit from building healthier communities…
The challenge is…they’re often preoccupied with more immediate and sector-specific financial pressures, such as concerns about resource shortages and economic sustainability.
Before Framing
When You Say…Partnering with public health is a good investment for the business sector.
They Think… It might be good for you, but what’s in it for me? I already donate to the charities that I am interested in supporting, and when it comes to my business I need to focus on my bottom line. If this really could benefit me, show me how!
Framing can help
Framing can help acknowledge other sectors’ resource concerns, while also encouraging them to think in “bigger picture” and longer-term ways about the benefits of community health. Whenever possible, highlight opportunities to align short-term objectives with long-term goals, and be sure to spell out any monetary or other material benefits of doing so.
An effective reframe would look something like this:
Organizational success requires paying careful attention to how resources are managed, both in the immediate and foreseeable future. Short-term cost savings might show temporary benefits on the balance sheet, but from a longer and more strategic view, investing in collaborations with public health can help businesses promote a socially responsible image that draws customers and enhances brand loyalty for years to come.
Remember, the reframe isn’t a ready-made talking point. It’s a sample iteration that models the framing recommendation in action.
More Examples
Housing Sector
An effective reframe would look something like this:
Working with public health professionals is worth the time, both in the short and long term. For example, partnering to enforce housing codes can help make more healthy housing available, faster. Inspections and preventive work can help keep healthier, contaminant-free housing in stock, which is a building block for thriving communities.
Tip
Investments help the housing sector showcase its commitment to communities and their well-being by creating healthy homes and improving existing homes. Pair Value of Investment with the principle of community responsibility in communications with the housing sector.
Education Sector
An effective reframe would look something like this:
Schools are increasingly being held accountable for meeting students’ social and emotional health needs along with their academic benchmarks. Public health professionals can offer wellness programs for teachers, which not only enhance their ability to design and deliver wellness-centered curricula, but equip them to practice and model key social and emotional skills themselves. These programs boost health outcomes and improve performance for students and teachers alike.
Tip
Emphasize to education professionals that partnering with public health can be a path towards more efficient use of their most precious resources—money and time—but also teacher satisfaction, patience, mental focus, and the energy to live up to the deeply held sense of community responsibility.
Health Systems Sector
An effective reframe would look something like this:
An investment in partnerships is an investment in patients and their health. For example, new healthcare reimbursement policies are frequently cited as a challenge for hospitals. Leveraging our combined knowledge about community health needs and resources can help increase efficiency, save costs, and improve patient outcomes.
Tip
The potential for increased efficiency is particularly enticing to many health systems professionals, who are responsible for improving health care and economizing its delivery.
Business Sector
An effective reframe would look something like this:
Growing the state’s workforce means investing in both your business and the community. When neighborhoods have green spaces and parks, residents have places to exercise and socialize, which are things we all know reduce stress and improve mental as well as physical well-being. This means healthier and more productive employees now, and also increased potential to attract new workers and their families to the area in the future. It’s a long-term win for community health and economic vibrancy.
Tip
More than any other sector, business professionals are disinclined to engage in collaborations that aren’t immediately beneficial to their bottom line. To the extent possible, help them see potential connections between their profit-driven mission and needed improvements to community health.