Dr. John R. Finnegan

But I think over time, we've seen enormous advances in public health to the point where a lot of it is taken for granted.

And that's the problem of the invisibility issue.

So I do believe that's certainly something that we need to have conversations about with the public, and especially after COVID now.

I think there's an enormous amount of lack of trust, not in public health per se, but in institutions that surround public health, like health departments and things of that kind.

I think that's part of the issue.

And there are things we can do in the communication world, lots of things that we can do to try to rebuild some of that trust.

Yeah, I get it.

And, you know, this is where I do think that there are approaches that we can use.

until the country recovers its senses, and it will at some point, whether it's two years from now or four years.

But one thing, I mean, communication certainly is part of it.

I think that

transparency with people, I think admitting uncertainty with people.

And again, this isn't from the public health perspective.

Listening, sometimes those of us in the academic world are not so good at listening and listening I think is really critical.

And this is where I want Clarence to jump in if he will.

I think one of the really critical areas of this is community partnerships.

There's no doubt in my mind that if you can empower local leaders, if you can work with local leaders in a whole variety of different sectors, faith leaders, barbers, teachers, people that are trusted messengers in the community, I think you can break through the bubbles.

with people.

It's got to be consistent.

It's got to happen in an ongoing way.