Episode #435 Knowing When to Walk Away
- Laura Hollabaugh
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- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
On This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
In this solo episode, Dr. Charlotte Huntley shares a deeply personal and practical conversation about navigating public health discussions with family, friends, coworkers, and communities without burning out. Grounded in her own complex grief journey and her work leading an epidemiology consulting firm, she offers a clear five-question framework to help listeners decide when a conversation is worth having, when to proceed with caution, and when to walk away.
She connects the timing of this episode to the holiday season, when public health topics tend to surface more often amid gatherings and heightened emotions, and emphasizes that public health professionals are not responsible for correcting all misinformation or defending the entire field. Instead, she defines success as helping people within one’s own sphere of influence better understand public health, while preserving personal mental health, capacity, and long-term sustainability in the work.
Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Conversation Highlights
You are not responsible for correcting every piece of public health misinformation, convincing every skeptic, or defending the entire field of public health. Your primary responsibility is to the people in your immediate sphere—family, friends, coworkers, and community.
The hardest skill in public health communication is often knowing when not to engage. Having clear criteria for when to step in and when to step away protects your emotional well-being and your long-term effectiveness.
A five-question framework can guide you in real time: What’s driving their response? Is there mutual respect? What’s your relationship? What is your capacity right now? What’s the setting?
Conversations are green light opportunities when there is genuine confusion, mutual respect, trusted relationships, alignment with your sphere of influence, and you have the capacity to engage fully.
Red lights—when it is healthiest to walk away—include interactions where someone only wants an argument, there is no mutual respect, you are already at capacity, or the setting and stakes are inappropriate or too high.
Yellow light situations call for clear boundaries, testing the waters with small engagement, bringing in support or resources, and having an exit strategy ready if the conversation turns unproductive or harmful.
“Two out of ten is a win”: even if only a small portion of people you talk to genuinely shift their understanding, those few can become allies and spread accurate public health messages in their own circles.
Sustainable engagement—preserving your mental health, honoring your grief and life circumstances, and pacing your energy—does more for public health over the long run than heroic, unsustainable overcommitment.
“The hardest skill in public health communication isn’t knowing what to say—it’s knowing when to walk away.” - Dr. Charlotte Huntley
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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.
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