Across US history, moral panics have proven to be an effective means of creating policy climates that are favorable to measures that increase surveillance, control, exclusion, and punishment of social “others.” Recent manufactured controversies in health include vaccine safety, DEI, transgender health, and more. The next moral panic is surely just ahead of us. How can health communicators be equipped to diagnose and respond more efficiently and effectively? This session will move from theory to practice, outlining a conceptual framework for understanding the stages of moral panics and illustrating strategies and tactics for interrupting them.

Julie Sweetland, PhD, FrameWorks Institute
Dr. Julie Sweetland is a sociolinguist and a senior advisor at the FrameWorks Institute. Since joining FrameWorks in 2012, Dr. Sweetland has designed and led reframing initiatives on climate change, education equity, childhood adversity, and more. Her skill in translating framing research into communication strategy has helped advocates, policymakers, and scientists drive change at the national, state, and grassroots levels. Since 2017, Julie has worked primarily with the public health sector, bringing the science and strategy of framing to health topics like health equity, tobacco control, maternal mortality, and childhood vaccination. Julie’s linguistic research has focused on the intersection of language and race, with a particular focus on how language can be used to disrupt racism in schools and beyond.

Register by March 12, 2025 – REGISTER FOR EVENT