Activity: Writing for different audiences in Public Health
In our Public Health Survey course we adapted one of the writing assignments from the Epidemiology Workplace Writing Repository.
Below is the description of the Article Summary Discussion Assignment. This took place on the discussion board on the topic of Environmental Public Health.
The purpose of this discussion activity is twofold, fist to introduce you to the BROAD scope of environmental public health and to support deep reading and learning, and second, continuing the practice of ‘writing short’. Writing short is an essential skill for public health professionals.
Writing to different audiences helps bring different aspects of the reading into focus. Some aspects of an issue may be too complicated or too basic for some audiences, and it is important to explain things at the appropriate level of your audience.
We recognize that these are sophisticated epidemiology papers, and we will not be grading on the quality of analysis and explanations in your writing- grades will be based on participation and your ability to write to the specific audiences. We wanted to emphasize that it is important to know your reader and tailor your writing to the audience to maximize your effectiveness as a communicator. We are looking for a robust discussion that deals with both the content of the papers and the process of how to present the information.
1. Choose ONE of the following articles:
a. Low-Level Environmental Lead Exposure and Children’s Intellectual Function: An International Pooled Analysis
b. Exposure to Greenness and Mortality in a Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study of Women
c. In utero arsenic exposure and infant infection in a United States cohort: A prospective study
d. Energy savings, emission reductions, and health co-benefits of the green building movement
2. In your own words, write three very short summaries of your chosen article (4-5 sentences each). Each summary should be written for a different reader. You will post your three summaries in one discussion post under the appropriate discussion group. We have set up discussion groups by article.
a. one summary for the lay public,
b. one summary for health care clinicians (e.g. MDs) ,
c. one summary for school nurses.
The writing should be directed to each specific audience (lay public, health care clinicians, school nurses) and should be relevant and understandable to them.
Once you post your summaries, it is expected that you will respond to each others summaries. As you reply to each other consider the process. Share any questions this activity raised for you and what were you are unsure about as wrote the summaries?
Please submit by participating on the Discussion board.
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