Haunted Tips for a Health Literate Halloween

Alt: Kid doodles in Halloween costumes shout, “Trick or treat!” An adult doodle says, “Hey kids! Help yourself to some health lit tips!”

Today, in the spirit of Halloween, we’re celebrating the We ❤ Health Literacy way—by rounding up our spookiest tips for effective health communication. Because ghosts and ghouls may be medium scary, but a world without health literacy is a true terror.

So before you don your witchy duds and enjoy the traditional fall candy feast, check out these harrowing health lit tips from our archive:

• Fight zombies (and also passive voice). As you may have noticed, we have a bit of a vendetta going against the passive voice—and the zombie test is our secret weapon. So join our cause, dear readers, and help bring health materials back from the dead.
• Save the scares for trick-or-treaters—not your readers. When someone’s looking for information about a personal health topic like birth control or maternal health, the last thing they need is blood-curdling medical terminology. “Boo! Your ovaries are giving up the ghost,” said no pleasant health communicator ever.
• Check out these creepy movies for public health thrills. Whether the hero is a CDC employee battling a realistic viral pandemic or Brad Pitt combatting a global horde of undead, Hollywood flicks can help popularize public health best practices. So grab the popcorn and settle in for a healthy thrill-fest.
• Guard against the most frightening monster of all: the dreaded pseudoscientist. You know what we find truly horrifying? Shams, scams, and pseudoscience creeping into the public consciousness—and crowding out accurate health information. But you can draw a circle of salt between your readers and the fake-health-news creepsters.

The bottom line: This Halloween, lift your spirits with our spookiest health literacy tips.

Tweet about it: #HappyHalloween! Check out these haunted #HealthLit tips from @CommunicateHlth: https://bit.ly/335WBoz