So now that I am doing the public health thing full time as a day job, I’ve had more opportunities to get back into the field and peruse various resources. Lately, I’ve been on a CDC-themed kick. Their website is seriously chock full of awesome resources and links to information on a multitude of public health topics. Not that you would probably doubt it – they are in fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for cryin out loud. But in this age of embedded media and photos/videos all over the place, you have to stay relevant right? Well, the other day I uncovered CDC’s Public Health Image Library (PHIL). Now I’m not sure how many people know about it, but I sure was happily surprised to find it! I’m a sucker for visual ways to convey messages, especially in communication.
So when I saw this repository of photos, video and illustrations, my mind began to take off on how these can be used in effective public health communications (and more selfishly some of my blog posts!). Now be warned, some of the images aren’t pleseant but I think most health practitioners understand that thoughts of a historical smallpox outbreak doesn’t evoke images of a Disney movie. It’s reality. It’s what we are living with around the world. It’s public health.
As they mention on the site, the CDC wants this resource to be used by the public:
We welcome public health professionals, the media, laboratory scientists, educators, students, and the worldwide public to use this material for reference, teaching, presentation, and public health messages. The content is organized into hierarchical categories of people, places, and science, and is presented as single images, image sets, and multimedia files.
Currently, they have 4 featured collections of material: Influenza, Natural Disasters, EM (Electron Micrographic) Imagery, and Bioterrorism. On top of that, PHIL offers guidance about who can use the material – whether you are a student, PR/Communications professional or a public health practitioner, there is something in the Library that can be useful for your project or general knowledge about a subject.
So whenever you have some time, hop on over to the Public Health Image Library for a healthy dose (pun intended) of visual goodies.
