The Story of Arclet

This 7-minute video was created in June 2023, with the support of Brown University’s Information Futures Lab. In this video, Arclet Founder Adrienne Ammerman talks about her work as a public health communicator during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it led her to the vision for the Arclet platform.

Transcript:

It was the spring of 2020, and the pandemic was descending on our communities across the U.S. 

In western North Carolina, I lead a group of communicators from local public health agencies, hospitals, community-based organizations, and more. As communicators, our job is to make sure everyone has the information they need to keep themselves and their communities safe during a health crisis.

As early as March, our regional group began weekly zoom meetings to share materials and support each other. Information about COVID-19 - case numbers, whether to wear a mask - was coming in tidal waves and we had to package all this emerging information and guidance in ways that would be easy for people to understand and use.

Unfortunately, the brochures and PDFs  we were tracking down from federal and state agencies about Covid-19 weren't timely or effective. They were generic, long, and difficult to understand. It was hard for people in our communities to connect to the material, to put it to use in their lives when it came to physical distancing, masking, testing, and eventually vaccination. 

It was clear there was more to do to keep the people and communities we serve informed and safe.

And then something happened that really changed how I think about my work. Our partners with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the tribe in our region, took an existing campaign from our state’s health department around masking, handwashing, and physical distancing and replaced the images on the existing graphics with tribal imagery. And suddenly, the same message became more culturally relevant.  

This is the moment when our regional group recognized that we had the power -  and responsibility - to customize information to truly reflect the culture and needs of our communities. 

We were empowered to rethink how our materials looked, and  how we delivered information to the people who needed it: 

We created a shared approach across our counties that aligned with recommendations from state and federal agencies, but still supported local campaign participants in selecting what they wanted to share within their own communities, using their own local logos and images people were already familiar with. This helped build and sustain trust in local public health.

We helped our local health communicators share the information on social media platforms, something many of them hadn’t been able to do before. 

We made all our materials customizable by creating online templates, so any individual or organization in our region could use them to help share evidence-based information. This helped amplify our messages and support community engagement.

Then we discovered that much of the materials we were getting from federal agencies hadn't been pre-tested – that means, we didn’t know how they would resonate with people. So we started holding listening sessions to solicit feedback from community members in our region, especially those communities most affected.

We agreed on shared performance measures around reach, engagement, and impact on behavior so that we could learn together as a region about what worked and what didn’t work.

In other words, we created a whole new collaborative system from scratch. One that we tested during one of the biggest global health crises. And one that worked better for us than the materials and tips  we had been provided. By working together, we made a real impact in our region. 

The story I just shared unfolded in the mountains of western North Carolina. But many similar stories played out across our nation during the pandemic. 

Unfortunately, without a centralized way to find and share resources, many communities didn’t have the help, tools, or enough resources to communicate effectively during the pandemic. This reduced public trust in health information… lives were lost.

The pandemic exposed problems  in how the government communicates health information that practitioners like me have been painfully aware of for many years. 

It showed that the people responsible for bringing  important health information to our communities often don't have the tools to do so effectively.

The information landscape is constantly evolving, as are the many health challenges we face. Public health communicators work to ensure that everyone has  access to health information that is relevant to their needs - whether it’s about vaccines, mental health, diabetes, high blood pressure, or cancer screening. 

What’s equally important is that people receive information that reflects their culture and values. This is the kind of information that is actually going to improve their health and the quality of their lives.

I am building a solution to help us meet these goals - and it’s called Arclet. 

Arclet allows health communicators in every community to find, localize, test, share, and measure engaging, evidence-based, and culturally competent health information – all on one central platform.

I’ve developed the core concept over the past four years based on my experience working with other health communicators in western North Carolina, as well as peers across the state and country. And my time as an Information Futures Fellow at Brown University has supported me in further refining the design and strategy.

Here’s how it works:

With Arclet, health communicators can search for materials by choosing the health topic, target audience, and type of materials they need. Instead of going through countless search results, they get a list of existing evidence-based materials that match their needs, helping them quickly find what's available and will work.

Next, Arclet provides health communicators with easy-to-use templates that can be customized to reflect their local branding. This approach builds trust and engagement with their community.

Arclet's third feature is pre-testing materials with a small group of the target audience before widespread release. This ensures that these materials are going to be relevant and effective.

Then, the Arclet platform makes it simple for health communicators to set up ads on social media platforms. It's designed with their needs in mind, ensuring they can reach their intended audiences.

Lastly, Arclet offers performance measures for active campaigns, providing valuable insights on what works, what doesn't, and how to improve.

With Arclet, we can finally break down silos and measure our successes across the country – learning from one another, and sharing the story of our impact. We can openly discuss what works and what doesn't, helping us to use our resources more effectively.

As our country moves forward from the pandemic, it's not enough to acknowledge the importance of local communications; we need to invest in those communications.

We must support the development of a platform that empowers health communicators to excel in equitably reaching their communities with valuable health information.

Together, with Arclet, we can transform the field of public health communications - ensuring that it evolves with our information landscape and the health needs of our communities. 

Join us in building a platform that innovates health communications, leading to healthier communities throughout our nation.