Recorded during the 2025 National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media (NCHCMM) in Atlanta, NPHIC’s Public Health Speaks podcast continues its Voices from the Field series with a thoughtful and timely conversation on health autonomy, motivation, and the role of artificial intelligence in public health communication.

In this episode, NPHIC is joined by Amelia Burke-Garcia, PhD, a longtime health communicator and Director of the Center for Health Communication Science at NORC at the University of Chicago. With more than 20 years of experience in the field, Burke-Garcia shares insights from her recent opinion piece, What Supporting [Health] Autonomy Should Look Like & How Artificial Intelligence Can Help, and unpacks how Self-Determination Theory can strengthen health communication practice.

The conversation explores how autonomy—often cited as a core principle in medicine and public health—can become uneven or conditional when people are overwhelmed by complex, and sometimes conflicting, health information. Burke-Garcia discusses how health communicators can better support autonomy by designing messages that are more empathetic, relevant, and empowering, while still advancing population health goals. She also examines how emerging AI tools may help scale tailored, evidence-based messaging in ways that build trust and meet people where they are.

Tune in for practical insights and a hopeful path forward for health communicators navigating an increasingly complex information environment.

What if the key to surviving today’s toughest public health challenges is learning how and when to share smarter? In this Voices from the Field episode, Dr. Kristen Swain, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Mississippi, explores how emerging AI tools can transform the way health communication researchers connect, collaborate, and problem-solve. In this changing public health landscape, Dr. Swain makes a compelling case for using AI to break down silos, accelerate knowledge sharing, and build stronger cross-sector, interdisciplinary research partnerships.

This conversation dives into how AI-powered collaboration can strengthen research networks, improve the translation of health information, and create more resilient systems for addressing complex public health issues. Whether you’re a researcher, communicator, policymaker, or AI-curious professional, this episode offers practical insights and forward-thinking ideas at the intersection of technology, trust, and public health impact.

If the future of health communication depends on collaboration, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Check out the new podcast episode featuring local NPHIC member, Meredith Li-Vollmer, Ph.D, a risk communication specialist for Public Health Seattle and King County, Washington. Dr. Vollmer provides insights on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic from a local public health perspective and how polling data from the Harvard Opinion public surveys, helped them develop their communication strategies and rebuild trust.

Olivia Biggs, of the National Public Health Information Coalition, discusses how Immunization Managers and Public Information Officers can Collaborate to Improve Immunization Policy Outcomes, as the pandemic winds down. We’ll hear from Brent Ewig, Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer, who monitors the immunization policy landscape and develops resources to support the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) members engaging in effective policy development.

Richard Quartarone, a health communicator in the Immunization Services Division at the CDC, joins the show to discuss the changing landscape of public health communication in the pandemic environment. He also addresses the role vaccine demand strategists play in helping to strengthen public health communications and build public trust in our nation’s immunization efforts.

Longtime NPHIC member Phil Rooney joins the show to discuss the unique communication challenges COVID-19 presents in the nation’s heartland. Rooney, a resource specialist with the Douglas County Health Department in Omaha, Nebraska, is also a former news journalist and was most recently awarded the Nebraska Public Relations Society of America’s Professional of the Year Award. Rooney reflects on his years of experience as a professional communicator and shares some important lessons learned in our nation’s pandemic response efforts.

Joining me today is Dr. Marcus Plescia, Chief Medical Officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Dr. Plescia provides medical leadership and expertise across the agency and helps coordinate ASTHO’s work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and each of its other affiliated partners.

In this episode, we sit down with an experienced communications strategist to discuss her role in leading an important initiative that brings together key partners in coordinating and amplifying public health messaging on COVID-19.

Guest:
Rhea Farberman
Director of Strategic Communications and Policy Research
Trust for America’s Health.