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About Science, Health, and Public Trust

This section of the NIH web site is a place for discussion of ways to improve the quality and usefulness of information for the public about science and health. The overall goal is to share strategies and best practices that might contribute to public understanding of the nature of biomedical research and its role in health.

Here at the NIH, and at grantee institutions across the country, we serve many audiences: scientists, health professionals, medical/scientific reporters and general assignment reporters, health educators, those who represent third-party payers and health systems, patients and those who care for them, and the general public.

Our health and science messages are created in many forms and include press releases and online news stories, expert interviews, printed and online information about health and disease, and an ever increasing number of messages on social media platforms.

Using these and other media we have become, and hope to continue to be, a credible source of science and health information.

We hope you will join us regularly for some suggestions about how we can improve our communications and engage our shared audiences in ways that will make them more interested, active advocates for their health and the health of their families. We’ll be highlighting some principles for writing about research that we use that might be helpful to others. We’ll also be introducing topics for discussion and providing checklists and examples designed to improve clear communication about science and health. Please check back with us in the coming weeks.

We look forward to working with the health and science writing community as part of our ongoing efforts to communicate clearly and responsibly.

Please feel free to email the NIH Science, Health and Public Trust Communications working group with your thoughts and suggestions.