Local efforts, global reach: Using web forums to move public health priorities

Public health communication faces two large challenges: how to bridge the gap among siloed sectors within and outside of traditional public health fields, and how to disseminate knowledge to and involve diverse and hard-to-reach populations. To address both of these issues, the Public Health Institute created Dialogue4Health (D4H - www.dialogue4health.org), an online conferencing forum and social network. Through this communications platform, the dissemination of actionable knowledge to community leaders and professionals across the globe has never been easier or more cost-effective. Since 2008, the D4H team has supported 174 highly-rated Web Forums to over 25,000 diverse participants across the U.S. D4H Web Forums aim to stimulate thinking on current topics, spread ideas, and develop a new audience for community health improvement. The free Web Forums feature the nation's top experts in dynamic discussions concerning up-to-the-minute developments that impact the public's health. D4H has focused its Web Forums on bridging the gap between global and local health knowledge and efforts by bringing together speakers working at every level to discuss their work. Additionally, the online platform allows speakers from all reaches of the globe to present together, linking formerly disparate communities and effecting more productive knowledge sharing. This presentation will demonstrate how an online communications platform can enable knowledge from around the globe to be effectively shared to inform on-the-ground practice in local communities as well as influence policy.