Episode #437 Meeting People Where They Are
- Laura Hollabaugh
- 9 hours ago
- 5 min read
On This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Have you ever struggled to explain what you do in public health to family and friends? You're not alone.
In this conversation from the What is Public Health series, Dr. Huntley sits down with Ashley Harris and Dr. Eboni Haynes to tackle one of public health's most persistent challenges: communicating what we do in plain language that resonates beyond our professional circles.
Why This Conversation Matters
Public health professionals often excel at complex epidemiological analysis but stumble when explaining our field to the people closest to us. This communication gap presents an opportunity. When communities understand and value public health, they become powerful advocates who strengthen programs and champion the resources needed to create lasting change. Building community buy-in starts with clarity.
The Superhero in Your Neighborhood
Ashley Harris brings a fresh perspective as a recent MPH graduate who now works with preschoolers in her community. She introduces a compelling metaphor: public health as a superhero working quietly in the background, preventing crises rather than reacting to them. Ashley shares how recognizing food deserts and built environments in her own community transformed her understanding and gave her language to explain public health to others.
From Sidewalks to Seatbelt Laws
Dr. Eboni Haynes, CEO of the Mahogany Group, explores public health as the infrastructure that creates conditions for optimal health. She shares powerful examples from her work in Pennsylvania, where she helped planning commissions understand why they needed public health professionals at the table. Her efforts led to policy changes that now require health expertise in community planning decisions.
The Faith Connection
The conversation takes an important turn as Dr. Haynes discusses her recent Master of Divinity degree and groundbreaking work bridging healthcare and faith communities. She describes encountering a church with a primary care practice inside it, sparking her mission to help faith communities use data to inform interventions while honoring the historic trust these communities hold.
Real-World Application
This episode provides practical frameworks you can use immediately. Both guests share how they've learned to start with stories rather than scientific explanations, using concrete examples like counting liquor stores versus grocery stores in a neighborhood. They demonstrate how meeting people where they are, with language they understand, opens doors to deeper engagement.
The Thread That Runs Through Everything
This conversation equips you with concrete strategies for explaining public health to anyone, from family members to policy makers. You'll discover storytelling techniques, relatable metaphors, and real-world examples that make abstract concepts tangible. More importantly, you'll have new tools to help others see it too.
About Our Guest
Ashley Harris, MPH
Ashley Harris is a recent graduate from Emory University with a Master of Public Health degree. She specializes in healthcare management, health coordination, logistics, and project management. Currently serving as an assistant teacher to preschoolers in her local community, Ashley brings her public health advocacy and passion for education directly into community settings. Her approach emphasizes meeting people where they are and making public health concepts accessible through relatable, real-world examples.
Eboni Haynes, PhD, MPH
Dr. Eboni Haynes is the CEO of the Mahogany Group, a public health management consulting firm in the Atlanta metro area that provides strategic guidance on health policy, program implementation and evaluation, and health communications. She holds master's and doctoral degrees in public health and recently completed a Master of Divinity program at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Dr. Haynes specializes in bridging public health and faith communities, helping organizations use data to inform interventions while building trusted partnerships. Her work includes integrating public health expertise into planning commissions and developing innovative approaches to reduce healthcare disparities in communities of color.
Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Conversation Highlights
Public health is proactive, not reactive.
Unlike healthcare, which responds when someone breaks a leg or has a heart attack, public health works quietly in the background to prevent those crises from happening in the first place. This distinction helps people understand why public health funding and programs matter.
Start with stories, not science.
When explaining public health to family and friends, lead with concrete examples they can see in their own neighborhoods. Counting liquor stores versus grocery stores, noticing the distance to fresh food, or recognizing missing sidewalks makes public health tangible and relatable.
Public health is that thread running through everything.
From seatbelt laws to transportation planning, from school infrastructure to airport water fountains, public health influences every policy decision and funding allocation. Recognizing these connections helps build advocacy and community support.
Faith communities are powerful but underutilized partners.
Historic trust in faith communities, especially in Black communities where healthcare distrust exists, creates opportunities for innovative partnerships. Equipping faith leaders with public health education and data can transform health outcomes.
Planning commissions need public health voices.
When community planners make decisions about transportation, parks, and infrastructure without health expertise, they miss critical opportunities to create conditions for wellness. Requiring public health professionals on these boards creates systemic change.
Meet people where they are with health equity in mind.
Public health means providing everyone with what they need to reach optimal health, not giving everyone the same thing. This framework helps communicate why targeted interventions and community-specific approaches matter.
Your ability to explain public health determines its future.
When public health professionals can clearly articulate what we do and why it matters, we build the community understanding and political will necessary to protect funding and programs. Plain language communication is not just nice to have, it's essential to the field's survival.
"Public health is a multifaceted superhero that is trying to prevent versus react. So it's like the air you breathe. Public health is everywhere." - Ashley Harris
"Public health really is all the things that ensure that we are creating the conditions for people to achieve optimal health. What is a person's best ability to be healthy? And we're also looking at how can we make sure that those conditions are present before someone gets sick." - Dr. Eboni Haynes
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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.