How to Talk about Global Health Without Boring People
Improving global health is going to require the concerted efforts of a lot of people. More people, in fact, than currently care. I believe that those of us that do care have a moral obligation to recruit other people. We need a critical mass to really change things, and we're not there.
But how, exactly, do you get other people to care? It's not easy. Here's what I have learned about talking to other people during my decade-long (and counting) obsession with global health.
1. Use stories and empathy. We respond to narrative far more than we respond to statistics. People get interested when they hear something they can identify with. We want people to broaden their monkeysphere. There is a line here; just telling stories is insulting to everyone involved.
2. Use issues people are familiar with as a bridge to more difficult issues. Just about everyone knows about HIV. You can use it as an example to talk about other infectious diseases like MDR TB. You can also take illnesses everyone is familiar with, like diarrhea, and talk about how much more dangerous they are in the developing world.
3. Know your call to action. I don't believe in awareness. I don't think it matters, and I don't think it leads to anything. I talk to people about global health because I want them to donate to global health causes and advocate for the US to take a bigger role in global health. I think the most important thing is to make people realize they can have an impact on global health. It's not just a big mass of hopelessness they should avoid thinking about.
4. Know how they can learn more. I actually send people to this very blog, since I try to keep it accessible for beginners. I also suggest the excellent Global Health Ideas blog. If they want a book, I suggest Millions Saved. If they seem the video type, then Global Health TV.
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