Message Development Posts
Improving Oral Health for Kids and Communities
Dental Health Aide Therapist (DHAT) Bonnie Johnson, from Emmonak, Alaska, travels around her community providing dental care to children and families in rural Alaska. Tribal leaders, dentists and community members explain how dental therapists like Bonnie have helped radically improve oral health in their villages while inspiring their community, once known for rampant tooth decay and poor oral health, to strive for a different, healthier future.
Can a List Save the World’s Forests?
Did you know that more than 50 percent of products on grocery store shelves contain ingredients—from palm oil to soy—that likely contributed to the destruction of rainforests? Fortunately, dozens of companies—from Kellogg’s to Mars, Inc.—have recently made pledges to remove forest destruction from the supply chains of their products.
Food Safety in Africa’s ‘Wet’ Markets
If you’ve been to any part of sub-Saharan Africa, you know that the large majority of food consumed (about 85 to 95 percent) passes through informal channels: vegetable, milk and meat stalls and outdoor markets cater to customers across urban centers and rural landscapes alike. And while the food sold there is often safe, sometimes it’s not. And when it’s not, people get sick. Some people die.
RWJF Makes Historic Commitment to Kids’ Health
Building on a $500 million pledge made in 2007, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced yesterday that it will commit an additional $500 million over the next ten years to help all children grow up at a healthy weight.
The State of Rights and Resources
In 2014, we saw a number of studies showing that when Indigenous Peoples and local communities have control of their land and the natural resources the land contains, they do the best job of keeping those resources—including tropical forests and fresh water supplies, for example—intact. But often times, governments claim control of the land and the disposition of its resources.
Pop Star Science
With a gloomy forecast for scientific funding, scientists are taking things into their own hands to find research funding, according to a recent Washington Post article, Crowdfunding propels scientific research. But they need to have good communications skills to do it.
When the White House Calls…
Last week, President Obama announced the launch of UpSkill America—a coalition of business, education, and workforce training organizations leading a movement to expand economic opportunity for American workers. As the economy continues to improve, many employers are struggling to find skilled workers to fill the jobs they have available.
We All Have a Stake in this Conversation
The stakeholders are everywhere! But, precisely who are they, and why are these nameless people cluttering up so much of the audience in social change communications?
Ebola Insights
The 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH, a Burness Client), featured informative, gripping, tragic, and inspirational testimony from people working on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic and now racing to develop, test, and approve life-saving drugs and vaccines.
Wired for Pain: How Different People Process Pain
In a new TED-Ed lesson, Dr. Karen Davis, a 2013 Mayday Pain & Society Fellow (a Burness client), explains how natural variations in our brain structure determine how we handle pain.
