“Without repetition, hesitation or deviation”
Article Outline
Listeners to BBC Radio 4–or indeed the BBC World Service – will be familiar with the panel game “Just a Minute”.1 The basic rules of the show are simple, contestants are asked to speak for one minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition. It sounds an easy task, until you try to do it. Regular panellists have become adept in the use of synonyms and uncommon words in an effort to keep talking within the rules of the game. Over the 42 years that the show has been running, the majority of the panellists have been comedians with a sprinkling of politicians, writers and “serious” actors and clearly an comedic personality has an impact on how you can navigate the pitfalls of the game. For many years one of the regular panel members would respond to challenges in a cantankerous manner, railing against the injustice of the challenge before finishing triumphantly with the catch-phrase: “I come all the way from Great Portland Street for this you know!” This approach was guaranteed to earn him a laugh as Broadcasting House, the London home of the BBC, is only a street away from Great Portland Street.
Interestingly, as a recent show recorded at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe showed, it is not those most used to dealing with words who are the best exponents of the game. It is those who are able to listen carefully, respond quickly, and use their imagination to map out a vision – however surreal it may be – when speaking out loud that succeed.
In this issue of Public Health we explore these themes of listening, responding and mapping out a vision in several ways.
The first, and most obvious of which relates to two keynote presentations that were made at the Public Health session at 136th Meeting of the American Public Health Association on San Diego. The theme of the conference was “Public Health without Borders” which was considered in relation to evidence and policy for public health by David Hunter2 and by Geof Rayner who explored conventional and ecological approaches to public health.3 Both approached the concept of borders in a way, but were clear on the need for effective listening and responding to change on a global basis. We are grateful to both David and Geof for producing written versions of their presentations.
Secondly, we are very pleased to be publishing alongside this issue of the journal an online only, e-Supplement on Social Marketing. Over recent years there has been both a growing interest in the application of social marketing theory in public health and a growing body of evidence relating to its effectiveness in communicating with the public about health. The papers in the e-Supplement are all drawn from the World Social Marketing Conference which took place in Brighton,UK in 2008. We are grateful to Denise Ong, Allison Thorpe and Rowena Merritt of the National Social Marketing Centre who have been our Guest Editors for the e-Supplement. To whet your appetite, their Guest Editorial is included in this September issue.4
However, we should not forget the importance of “everyday” public health research and practice studies. As always, we are pleased to be presenting to you papers on topics as diverse as physical activity,5 the estimation of smoking prevalence,6 TB control7, 8 quality of life in patients with heart disease.9 In all cases the imperative to communicate the need for behavioural change, whether on the part of the individual or the agency responsible for them, is clear.
Listening and responding to the public, setting out a vision for better, more sustainable health, is an essential aspect of the advocacy for health that is part and parcel of what we do when we communicate public health issues. However, how often do those of us who are seeking to communicate to the public about health matters feel frustrated by the sheer complexity of the required message that has to be communicated? Or have found themselves pulling their hair out in an epilatory rage at the success of massive commercial marketing investment to promote unhealthy choices over healthy ones?
We have previously called for a restoration of rhetoric as an essential part of public health.10 To be successful rhetoricians, we need to be adept at communicating complex messages to a public that may prefer commercial marketing over social marketing. We must learn to use all the available rhetorical tools at our disposal to persuade the public that we serve towards healthier and sustainable options and lifestyles. In this we have something to learn from the panellist of Just a Minute. We can and should be able to speak without hesitation or deviation on matters that are essential to good public health.
However in one regard, we would end up being the poorest of players of Just a Minute. One of the most effective tools of the rhetorician – and one used with great effect by the marketing industry – is epizeuxis: the repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis.
As public health professionals, we should never be afraid of being repetitive about health.
In this September issue of Public Health we are very pleased to bring you both a minisymposium based on the keynote presentations at our Special Session at the 136th meeting of the APHA in San Diego and an e-Supplement which brings together selected papers that were presented in the World Social Marketing Conference in Brighton 2008. As an introduction to the e-Supplement, was a way of whetting your appetite for this, Merritt and Thorpe provide an overview of the papers in a Guest Editorial. As you have come to expect, we have a broad coverage of public health issues. Epidemiological concerns are to the fore with studies on the epidemiology of physical activity in Poland, its relationship to diabetes in West African populations. Amongst lifestyle issues, we consider the prevalence of cigarette related injuries amongst children, food consumption amongst young smokers and alcohol misuse amongst pregnant women. We have papers considering methodological issues in estimating smoking prevalence in US surveys and in assessing quality of life in coronary patients. On the health protection side (just to remind us that influenza A/H1N1 is not the only concern) there are studies on aspects of TB management, Hepatitis B vaccination and breast screening. Add to all book reviews on scaling up health service delivery and on mental health services and policy, and you have a wealth of reading ahead of you.
References
- Just a Minute. BBC Radio 4. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5dp[Last accessed 24.08.09]
- . Relationship between evidence and policy: A case of evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence?. Public Health. 2009;123:583–586
- . Conventional and ecological public health. Public Health. 2009;123:587–591
- . Where is our Coke?. Public Health. 2009;123:581–582Social Marketing e-Supplement
- Epidemiology of physical inactivity in Poland: prevalence and determinants in a former communist country in socioeconomic transition. Public Health. 2009;123:592–597
- . Smoking prevalence: a comparison of two Americal surveys. Public Health. 2009;123:598–601
- . A pilot study to assess workplace tuberculosis control activities in four districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Public Health. 2009;123:623–624
- Changes in tuberculin sensitivity among first-grade students of elementary schools in Evros Greece due to immigration. Public Health. 2009;123:618–622
- . Assessing health-related quality of life among coronary patients: SF-36 vs SF-12. Public Health. 2009;123:615–617
- . A question of rhetoric. Public Health. 2007;121:641–642
PII: S0033-3506(09)00233-9
doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2009.09.001
© 2009 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
