About Science, Health, and Public Trust

Communications word cloud

This section of the NIH website provides tools聽to help improve the quality and usefulness of information for the public about science and health. We serve many audiences at聽NIH聽and our grantee institutions across the country: scientists, health professionals, reporters, communicators, health educators,聽patients, caregivers, and the general public.聽Our goal as communicators is to contribute to public understanding of the nature of biomedical research and its role in health.

Please feel free to email the聽NIH Science, Health and Public Trust Communications working group聽with your thoughts and suggestions.

Tools

How to Evaluate Trustworthiness in Science

These days, anyone can write or talk about science and health topics, no matter how much or how little about the topic they actually know. Here are some questions we鈥檝e put together to help you evaluate a source of information.

Explaining How Research Works

A resource聽to help science and health聽communicators put the process of science into perspective and聽explain why science changes over time.

A Checklist for Communicating Science and Health Research to the Public

A list of strategies for communicating science and health research to the public.

The Challenges of Understanding and Communicating Health Risks

A one-page guide to help put health risks into perspective, whether you鈥檙e describing the results of a study to the public or potential treatments to a patient.

Understanding Clinical Studies

A one-page guide to clarify the different kinds of clinical studies, explain why researchers use them, and touch a little on their strengths and weaknesses.