Blog post
Newpark Healthcare: Insights from the ESCORT Project
September 25th, 2026
by Newpark Healthcare
What Have We Discovered?
The first step in communication design is to establish what the communication is intended to achieve. Campaign objectives should concern awareness, knowledge, preparedness, risk perception, behaviour, service use, professional practice or other defined outcomes. These objectives should not be treated as interchangeable.
The Escort Project set out to examine the role of healthcare campaigns in protection cross-border population health. It became clear that public health communication is one of the key public health actions and is firmly linked to surveillance and epidemiological analysis. Communication in public health is also a key skill, a specialisation, that must be part of the training of everyone involved in public health response .
It also became very clear that all communication is bi-directional and a dynamic approach is required so that feedback on communication is captured and acted on in the same manner as any other form of epidemiological data.
Public Health Communication is not a one-size-fits-all - the content changes based on who is receiving the information and the project opted to divide the audience into four separate stakeholder groupings
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Patients and the General Public
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Health and Care Providers ( Carers and Allied Health Care Providers )
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Heath and Crae Professionals ( Doctors , Nurses, Health and Social Care Professionals)
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Government Bodies and Public Health Agencies
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Communications in Public Healt is broken into the acute, trust-focused practice of ERC and the sustained practice of awareness campaigns. These are functions as a Public Health Action that closes the loop between surveillance data and real-world protective outcomes. It is essential for both rapid emergency response and longer-term population health improvement.
The Escort Communication Analytical Report
The Escort adopted the form of a comprehensive detailed analytical report covering the provision of insight, illustrative examples, communication materials and methodologies to support public campaigns addressing three emerging health-threat areas: pathogens with pandemic potential, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) hazards, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The present report takes an evidence-informed analytical approach. It brings together scientific literature, international and European guidance, documented communication practice, lessons from COVID-19, and relevant knowledge generated within the ESCORT project.
The evidence indicates that effective public-health communication is not simply a process of transmitting information. It depends on the credibility of information sources, audience characteristics, trust, message design, appropriate communication channels, community engagement, behavioural factors and the ability to adapt communication as evidence and circumstances change. These factors have particular importance when communication must operate across different countries, languages, health systems and populations (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control [ECDC], 2020).
Drawing on WHO Strategic Communications Framework, culturally driven strategies, plain-language guidance and learning lessons from COVID-19, the following principes underpin this analytical report
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Equity and inclusion (reaching vulnerable, mobile and minority populations)
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Cultural humility and audience-centred design
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Plain language and health literacy
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Multi-channel, multi-messenger approaches
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Transparency, consistency and trust-building across borders
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Integration with existing EU and national surveillance, early-warning and response systems
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Ethical considerations (avoiding stigma, protecting privacy, countering misinformation)
Digital Communication and Artificial Intelligence
Digital communication is now part of the environment in which public-health information is produced, received and shared. Websites, social media, messaging services and other digital channels can support rapid dissemination and interaction, but they can also increase exposure to misinformation, information overload and unequal. The evidence therefore supports digital communication as one component of a wider public-health communication system rather than as a replacement for other forms of communication.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly being considered for health communication. Potential applications include summarising information, supporting translation, preparing draft material and helping organise large volumes of information.
The evidence remains limited. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that digital health communication interventions can improve some knowledge and behavioural outcomes, but evidence specifically concerning AI-enabled interventions was sparse and heterogeneous . Strong claims about the effectiveness of AI as a public-health communication intervention are therefore not justified.