How health institutions can catch up

Project Stethoscope, the PHNIX initiative, and you

If there is one thing I hope institutions take away from this year, it’s this: the world is changing, and they need to step up, do things differently, and find the courage to fight for the people.

This past year has been difficult and harder than anything I’ve seen in my career. (And that’s saying something after Covid-19.) Health institutions—where discoveries happen, children are kept safe, and disease and toxic exposures are prevented—create jobs and house brilliant people fighting like hell to protect Americans’ health. However, they have faced unrelenting and unprecedented targeting and destruction. People have lost lives because of it.

But if we are honest with ourselves, health institutions were built for a different time. They are about twenty years behind and unprepared for the speed, complexity, and participation that Americans rightly expect today. When institutions fail to adapt, people are left behind, and trust erodes. That erosion has shaped much of what we are living through right now.

Real change is possible. Institutions can rebuild, innovate, and strengthen their connections to people through trustworthy, transparent, and consistent actions.

I’ve worked inside institutions for much of my career, but working here with you all on this newsletter, I have seen what they’re missing out on: the stories, the feedback, community, and ideas. One example of how to build institutions equipped for two-way health communication is coming to life at Your Local Epidemiologist: Project Stethoscope. (You may have seen our California debut!) I’m excited because this is one of the clearest signs that public health may be able to finally catch up and start to come out of the ashes with strength and resilience.

What to work towards

Engagement. Culture. Connection. Community. People’s voices and experiences matter, and leaders and institutions need to hear them.

Take communication. For decades, health information flowed one way: trust, authority and compliance were assumed, experts decided, institutions published, and people were expected to fall in line once guidance was issued. This largely worked in the 19th and 20th centuries.

That world largely doesn’t exist anymore.

Many will blame misinformation and disinformation and yes, these are huge challenges. But they’re just the tip of the iceberg. The deeper issue is that the world is vast and diverse and changing fast and people have a lot more questions, confusion, and concerns that aren’t being met in a timely, understandable, and actionable way. Information voids are left, and whatever is online often fills them. Sure, people can Google answers and we now have AI, but people don’t need more data or facts. They need narrators, navigators, and storytellers to help them make sense of the data and to share their experiences. People they can trust.

This is what you taught me

I often say that the YLE community—you—taught me more over the past 6 years than I think I have ever taught you.

That includes lessons like:

• Meet people where they are, not where you wish they were. It’s not a website with an 85-page PDF, nor in polished press conferences.

• Listen to frustrations, confusion, and questions.

• Be transparent. Own up to mistakes. Man, I have made a lot of mistakes.

• Be a warm body. Humans trust humans.

• Show up and execute promptly. Good enough right now is better than perfect too late.

• Make it participatory. Build a two-way street.

• Anticipate needs on the ground.

I think this bottom-up approach could be the key to building the world we want to live in, for both institutions and communities.

Drum roll please: California case example, PHNIX

YLE has officially launched a new program that aims to do just that—help protect Americans’ health from chaos and rebuild how public health works and how it serves people. And we are launching it with a really exciting first partner: the state of California.

This week, Governor Gavin Newsom launched PHNIX (Public Health Network Innovation Exchange), with the all-woman public health dream team of Drs. Erica Pan, Deb Houry, and Susan Monarez… and me. While Deb and Susan will advance data systems and innovation, my team at YLE will ensure these advances reflect the lived realities of Californians and support everyday health decisions.

A pic I grabbed showing the joy and excitement of this project. (Excuse my dirty computer screen). Shared with permission!

YLE’s program, Project Stethoscope, is designed to listen and engage with communities and feed them into the systems where decisions get made. Think of it as a public health stethoscope, amplifying the heartbeat of communities.

This means we:

• Listen closely to elevate health questions, confusion, and frustrations as they emerge on the ground.

• Partner and equip trusted messengers—from faith-based leaders to postal workers to public health workers—across the state.

• Empower individuals with clear information to make decisions for themselves and their loved ones.

YLE exists to serve the public—holding systems accountable to the people they’re meant to protect. This newsletter isn’t going anywhere. But behind the scenes, YLE has been busy building the technology, capacity, team, sparkle, and connective tissue desperately needed right now to create a modern information ecosystem.

Bottom line

Trust isn’t declared; it’s demonstrated. Over and over and over again through a set of trustworthy acts. Focusing on these acts is how health institutions can catch up to the 21st century. To not only rise from the ashes, but thrive.

I’m thrilled to innovate in this space, taking everything the YLE community has taught me over the past six years and scaling it so Americans can see themselves in the systems designed to serve them.

Let’s GO!

Love, YLE

If you work for an agency or institution that wants to join this effort to reimagine public health communications, reach out to my colleague Celeste (celeste@yle.health) and we can find a time to talk.

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Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. YLE reaches more than 425,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: