Episode #433 Building Bridges Through Clear Communication
- Laura Hollabaugh
- 8 hours ago
- 7 min read
When Your Colleagues Don't Understand What You Do
Megan McCarthy walked into a public health laboratory in Arkansas and discovered that the scientists processing COVID tests, newborn screenings, and immunology samples didn't understand how their work connected to public health. They were brilliant at the science, but the bridge between their lab benches and community health outcomes remained invisible to them.
This disconnect isn't unique to laboratory settings. It exists in healthcare systems, government agencies, academic institutions, and even within public health departments themselves. When professionals working within the field struggle to see how their piece fits into the larger mission, how can we expect the public to understand?
Three Perspectives on an Urgent Question
In this panel conversation, host Dr. Charlotte Huntley brings together three public health professionals navigating very different spaces, each tasked with explaining what public health is and why it matters:
Abby Tighe, executive director of the National Public Health Coalition, was fired from the CDC in February 2025 and now leads grassroots advocacy efforts. Her approach: public health is what we invest in for the health and wellness of communities, just like we invest in safe roads to prevent car accidents.
Megan McCarthy brings health communications expertise from maternal child health programs to environmental laboratories in rural Arkansas. She describes public health as the bridge between science and communities, connecting people to information and resources in ways that are accessible, jargon-free, and action-oriented.
Dr. Jennifer Mandelbaum balances three roles: health tech researcher, community health educator at Tufts University, and New Hampshire state representative. She frames public health as a promise that every person deserves the chance to live a full, healthy, and hopeful life, and a call to action to protect our shared future.
Why "Public Health Is Everything" Falls Short
The conversation tackles a tension within the field itself. While campaigns like "This Is Public Health" emphasize the breadth of the work (from tap water to public transit), this framing sometimes obscures rather than clarifies. Dr. Mandelbaum raises an important critique about when public health claims everything falls under its umbrella. Does it adequately consider the direct and indirect consequences to other sectors? During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, public health's singular focus on preventing illness and death didn't always account for learning loss, economic devastation, or the lack of flexibility for working families.
Abby offers a counterpoint: while everything may not be technically public health, housing, employment, and infrastructure all have significant ties to health outcomes. The question becomes how to maintain a broad definition while diving into the nuance that connects these dots for diverse audiences.
The Power of Storytelling Without Jargon
Throughout the conversation, all three guests emphasize that passion combined with relatable examples creates understanding far more effectively than technical definitions. Megan shares how she helped laboratory scientists recognize their role in public health by connecting their test results to the patients making health decisions based on that information. Jennifer describes working on environmental health legislation through small, incremental steps rather than sweeping system overhauls. Abby explains that establishing shared goals (everyone wants to live in a healthy, safe community) opens doors that partisan language immediately closes.
Dr. Huntley reflects on moments of regret when she assumed someone didn't want to hear her "rambling story," only to discover later that those connecting-the-dots narratives were exactly what made public health click for people. The panel agrees: skip the acronyms, lead with what's relatable, and don't underestimate people's willingness to engage with complexity when it's presented with clarity and genuine care.
Advocacy in a Moment of Crisis
This conversation takes place against the backdrop of unprecedented attacks on public health infrastructure and professionals. Abby's organization, recently renamed the National Public Health Coalition, works to separate the inherently political nature of public health (which relies on policy) from partisan divisions. Their mission: advocate for public health as something for everyone, not just institutional interests.
Jennifer's work in the New Hampshire legislature demonstrates public health advocacy at the state level, where she navigates split chambers and focuses on discrete, achievable outcomes. Megan, currently seeking her next career home after her fellowship, represents the many mid-career professionals continuing this work despite uncertainty and upheaval.
The throughline: these professionals entered public health driven by a vision of better health outcomes for communities they care about. That promise, and the passion behind it, sustains them through incremental progress, setbacks, and the daily challenge of explaining work that often remains invisible until it's gone.
About Our Guests
Abby Tighe, MPH
Abby Tighe serves as executive director of the National Public Health Coalition (formerly Fired But Fighting). She holds an MPH from Boston University and an undergraduate degree in environmental health from Western Carolina University. Her career has spanned HRSA's Region One working on overdose-related initiatives, community-based overdose prevention work at the CDC, and public relations. After being terminated from the CDC in February 2025, she co-founded a grassroots organization focused on rebuilding and protecting public health infrastructure. Her work emphasizes nonpartisan advocacy for policies that support community health and wellness.
Megan McCarthy, MPH
Megan McCarthy earned her bachelor's degree from St. John's University in Queens in 2019 and her Master of Public Health in behavioral and community health from the University of Maryland. Her career began in communications and storytelling before expanding to include certification as an EMT and a service year in Washington, DC. She has supported maternal child health programs, designed digital tools for WIC and SNAP nutrition access, and completed a two-year fellowship with the Association of Public Health Labs in Arkansas. Her expertise bridges health communications, health literacy, and laboratory science, with particular insight into rural healthcare access and digital health resources.
Jennifer Mandelbaum, PhD
Dr. Jennifer Mandelbaum holds a doctorate in health promotion, education, and behavior. She began her public health career at the South Carolina Department of Public Health's Division of Diabetes and Heart Disease Management conducting program evaluation work. Her focus on data dissemination led to partnerships with communities, presentations at national and local conferences, and academic publications. She currently leads mixed methods research for a health tech company and teaches introductory community health at Tufts University. As a New Hampshire state representative, she represents two towns on the state's seacoast and works on health policy issues including environmental health and groundwater contamination.
Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Conversation Highlights
Public health is the bridge between science and communities.Â
It's not just about conducting research or analyzing data. It's about connecting people to information and resources in ways that are accessible, free of jargon, and tailored to different mediums and literacy levels so communities can make informed decisions about their health.
Even professionals within public health don't always understand its scope.
Laboratory scientists processing tests, healthcare providers delivering services, and policymakers crafting legislation may not recognize how their work connects to population health outcomes, creating opportunities for internal education and stronger collaboration across silos.
Effective communication requires meeting people where they are.
Whether using the analogy of maintaining roads to prevent car accidents or explaining PFAS legislation through discrete steps rather than system overhauls, relatable examples grounded in what audiences already care about build understanding far more effectively than technical definitions.
"Public health is everything" needs the connecting story.
While public health touches countless aspects of daily life, simply tagging things as public health without explaining the connection leaves people to draw their own conclusions, often incorrectly. The nuanced stories that connect the dots create lasting understanding.
Passion combined with incremental progress sustains advocacy during crisis.
When public health faces existential threats, professionals draw on the promise that brought them to the field: the vision of healthier communities and equitable access to resources. This commitment manifests through small legislative victories, grassroots organizing, and daily efforts to educate one person at a time.
Separating "political" from "partisan" opens doors for collaboration.
Public health inherently involves policy decisions, making it political by nature. However, establishing shared goals (everyone wants safe, healthy communities) and approaching conversations with humility about methodology creates space for nonpartisan collaboration even in deeply divided contexts.
The most powerful public health advocates are those doing the work.
State legislators, communications specialists, and fired federal employees become ambassadors when they combine scientific expertise with genuine passion and the ability to translate complex systems into stories that resonate with constituents, colleagues, and community members who need to understand why this work matters.
"We invest in our roads and making sure that they are drivable and safe. And we do a similar thing for people's health. Just like we want to prevent your car accident, we want to prevent heart attacks and diabetes and flu."Â - Abby Tighe
"Public health is a promise that every person, no matter who they are or where they live, deserves the full chance to live a full, healthy, and hopeful life."Â - Dr. Jennifer Mandelbaum
"I really think public health is the bridge between science and communities. It's about connecting people to the information and the systems that they could utilize to live better lives." - Megan McCarthy
Connect With Our Guests:
Links Mentioned In This Episode:
Reach Out To Us:
Other Resources:
Podcast Links
📲 Haven’t downloaded the PHEC Podcast Community app yet?
Enjoying the podcast? Please write a favorable review of the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations Podcast in Apple Podcasts.
Listen to the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations Podcast (PHEC Podcast) in Spotify.
Listen to the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations Podcast (PHEC Podcast) on other podcast platforms.
Like This Episode?
Click links below to share this episode with your network!
Comment below with your favorite takeaway!
Public Health Consulting To Support You
DrCHHuntley LLC is a public health consulting firm that specializes in epidemiology consulting, supporting large nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida that serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We also provide nationwide public health consulting and epidemiology consulting support to BIPOC organizations across the United States.