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Promote the importance of immunizations with this communications toolkit This toolkit was created to promote the importance of immunizations during National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), which occurs every August. We encourage you to use the valuable resources in this toolkit throughout the year. The 2018 edition of the toolkit contains key messages, vaccine information, sample news releases and articles, sample social media messages, links to web resources from CDC and other organizations, and logos, web banners, posters and graphics to use with social media. It also includes a media outreach toolkit and a place for you to share your NIAM activities and view what other are doing for NIAM. (#NIAM18) Use the toolkit to design your own promotions. Mix and match, copy or adapt the contents to fit the particular news and issues of your own organization or community - and share your NIAM activities to inspire others. For more information, please contact Tom Schafer at tschafer@nphic.org The National Public Health Information Coalition is the premier network of public health communicators in the United States and U.S. territories. They are committed to "making public health public" by sharing our knowledge, expertise and resources to effectively communicate about the important health issues of the day.

This document lists frequently used terms in public health materials and their common, everyday alternatives in plain language sentences. Original sentence examples come from materials on CDC.gov. Some words and phrases may have multiple meanings, so check the context of use before you substitute. Remember, it might not be enough to delete jargon and substitute an everyday word in materials for the nonexpert public. You may have to rewrite the entire sentence or sentences and use multiple techniques. As a rule, you help readers when you: • Write short sentences. •Use active voice. •Use everyday words and pronouns (when appropriate). Who should use this document? Anyone writing for an audience that will benefit from jargon-free language: Consider the intended audience, and use the language that will make the most sense to them. When you do need to reach a broad, public audience without specialized knowledge about a topic, everyday words are the most appropriate language to help the most people understand the information.

This document provides a checklist to test if your country is well prepared for events that may potentially erode trust in vaccines and the health system. The checklist provides inspiration and may point to areas where there is need for improvement. It is also a good point of departure for discussions and planning with regard to immunization communication and crisis response. Use the document to prepare for a meeting with key stakeholders or as a starting point for discussions on vaccine crisis communication.

Usability.gov is the leading resource for user experience (UX) best practices and guidelines, serving practitioners and students in the government and private sectors. The site provides overviews of the user-centered design process and various UX disciplines. It also covers the related information on methodology and tools for making digital content more usable and useful. Site Management Content for this site is managed by the Digital Communications Division in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. HHS actively collaborates with many federal agencies and other individuals in the public and private sector interested in UX to produce content and share industry trends and ideas.

The CDC Clear Communication Index (Index) is a research-based tool to help you develop and assess public communication materials. The Index has 4 introductory questions and 20 scored items drawn from scientific literature in communication and related disciplines. The items represent the most important characteristics that enhance and aid people's understanding of information.