Childhood Chronic Disease Prevention: The Vital Role of Public Health Communication Campaigns

Ending Childhood Chronic Disease is a National Priority

Nearly one in five children in the United States has a chronic condition that disrupts their daily life, such as asthma, diabetes, or obesity. Thus, the first task of the newly established “Make America Healthy Again Commission” is to develop policy recommendations to end childhood chronic disease, which will yield long-term health and economic benefits for children, families, and communities.

Chronic Disease Prevention is a Cornerstone of Public Health 

Chronic disease prevention reduces the number of people who become sick and need medical care. It also increases the number of people whose chronic illness is caught early, when treatment can be more effective. 

Chronic disease is caused by a combination of genetics, where and how we live, and the choices we—and the people around us—make. Some of these factors, like genetics, are not within our control, whereas others, like where we live, depend on wealth, access, and advantage. But many of the factors that influence our health are within our control to some degree. 

Making healthy choices consistently across so many health behaviors is difficult, especially when substances are addictive, products are heavily advertised, and social norms make it hard to engage in healthy behavior. People need support. This is where communication science comes in.

Public Health Communication Can Reduce Chronic Disease 

Through communication science, we can provide support to help people make healthy choices. Sometimes, people need information: smoking causes cancer, exercise can add years to your life. Other times, people know a behavior carries risks or benefits, but they still need a nudge to make a healthy decision. 

Formative research and evaluation are two well-established areas of communication science that can help us understand what types of messages will encourage behavior change and whether those efforts have been successful. Research helps us understand what people need to be healthy. Do they need information or a persuasive nudge? What beliefs do they hold about smoking, vaping, marijuana, or opioids? What messages have the best chance of resulting in positive belief and behavior change? The answers to these questions can be the key to a campaign being effective, ineffective, or even counterproductive.

Evaluation helps us understand the impact of public health communication campaigns. Did the intended audience receive the health message? Did the message grab their attention and make them think? Did it change what they know, believe, or plan to do in the future? Did it change their behavior? The answers to these questions also help communicators adjust ongoing campaigns to boost their effectiveness.

Public Health Communication is Effective 

Communication science has developed over decades and is effective in promoting healthy, and preventing or reducing unhealthy, behaviors. Take tobacco as an example. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States because of its role in heart disease, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. Although most tobacco-related deaths occur among older people, nearly everyone who uses tobacco today began using it before age 18, and most would quit if they could. Whether in middle school or middle age, most people who use tobacco want to quit and have tried to quit.

Public health communication campaigns typically take one of two approaches to addressing tobacco: (1) tobacco use prevention, focused on children and youth; and (2) tobacco cessation among current smokers. Both approaches are effective. 

A new study shows that a national public health communication campaign created by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—The Real Cost campaign—has prevented 450,000 U.S. youth from taking up vaping. That is 450,000 people who are less likely to develop a chronic disease, like heart disease or cancer, later in life. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) health communication campaign—Tips From Former Smokers—is responsible for 1 million people quitting smoking.

Research shows that quitting smoking can lead to rapid reductions in risk for serious health events, like heart attacks. Because these and other national and state campaigns have been so effective, public health communication campaigns are considered a “best practice” for tobacco control.

Public Health Communication is Cost-Effective 

Preventing chronic disease is more cost-effective than treating it. Today, most of what the United States spends on health care goes to treating chronic conditions. If we spent more on prevention, we might be able to reduce these costs. 

The federal government, states, and nonprofit foundations invest in health communication campaigns to prevent and reduce unhealthy behaviors like tobacco, marijuana, and opioid use and to promote healthy behaviors like smoking cessation, proper nutrition, regular exercise, and cancer screening. Numerous studies show that such campaigns are not only effective in preventing chronic disease—they are also cost-effective.

For example, The Real Cost campaign had a return on investment of $128 in cost savings for every dollar spent. By preventing youth from becoming established smokers, the campaign resulted in more than $31 billion in cost savings for youth, their families, and society. These savings include the cost of medical care, lost wages, lower productivity, and increased disability as a result of chronic disease. Likewise, the Tips From Former Smokers campaign was associated with $7.3 billion in health care cost savings from U.S. adults quitting smoking. Since the time of these studies, the campaigns have prevented additional youth from taking up tobacco and encouraged more adults to quit smoking, resulting in even greater savings.

Public Health Communication is a Powerful Tool in Chronic Disease Prevention

Public health communication campaigns can reduce suffering and improve people’s quality of life. When implemented according to best practices, campaigns can result in cost-savings for individuals, families, and society. A national chronic disease prevention initiative would benefit from having public health communication at its center. 

RTI International has deep expertise in conducting formative research to develop and plan effective campaigns, creating advertisements and other campaign materials, and leading comprehensive evaluations to understand the impact. RTI’s communication scientists have worked on media campaign evaluations for the FDA and CDC, as well as numerous states, including California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Ohio, and Vermont. 

Learn more about RTI’s communication science and strategy solutions.