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NEWS: Roger Dobson Public health is at risk of mainstreaming jargon, study shows BMJ 2008; 337: a1109 [Full text]

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This is just the beginning...

David W Pitches   (9 August 2008)

Public health exposes jargon epidemic

Alan Maryon-Davis   (15 August 2008)

The lesson from the laugh

Christopher J Chiswell, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar   (21 August 2008)

This is just the beginning... 9 August 2008
David W Pitches, Consultant in Public Health Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo Send response to journal: Re: This is just the beginning...	If NICE have anything to do with it, things are going to get even worse. Their latest public health guidance (1) recommends a conceptual model for community engagement, recognising methodological difficulties and recommending change agents such as health champions to deliver health initiatives... (1) Killoran A, White P, Owen L, Fischer A, Millward L. NICE public health guidance: what's new? Journal of Public Health 2008 30(2):211-212; Competing interests: None declared
Public health exposes jargon epidemic 15 August 2008
Alan Maryon-Davis, President Faculty of Public Health Send response to journal: Re: Public health exposes jargon epidemic	Roger Dobson’s news article (BMJ 2008;337:a1109) highlighting a recent analysis of the management-speak content of the Faculty of Public Health annual conference helps to surface a major elephant-in-the room which calls for hands-on engagement across the piece. The FPH has unpacked the metrics of this epidemic and our drill-down reveals that unbridled management-speak extends far beyond home base. Our specialty is merely spearheading a translational paradigm shift, leading from the back, pushing at an open door ahead of the curve. We believe that what is needed is a world-class top-down, bottom-up conversation to deliver real blue-sky thinking outside the box. Only by rolling out a partnership approach with key stakeholders will the health and healthcare family be able to kick this negative into the long grass. For our part, we in public health are not advocating for a taskforce – but may run a focus group up the flagpole to see if its wheels fall off. Yours sincerely Competing interests: None declared
The lesson from the laugh 21 August 2008
Christopher J Chiswell, Public Health Trainee NHS Walsall, WS2 7JL, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar Send response to journal: Re: The lesson from the laugh	Whilst excited about the possibility that next year’s public health conference may be hosted by Bruce Forsyth, we were struck by the fear of using words such as ‘engage’ and ‘choice’ when we are talking about health. What actually makes jargon painful is not the words themselves, but the feeling that they are empty and have lost their sense. We should not be embarrassed about wanting to work with our local communities, but we should be concerned if our failure to deliver on past statements means that these words have ended up feeling worthless to us. The challenge from this light-hearted study should not be to stop using these words, but to make sure we never forget what they really mean. What will make any language, even this fearsome dialect of ‘management speak’, is not the vocabulary that we choose, but the actions and meaning we give to these words. Finally, we were encouraged to note that no-one mentioned ‘re- inventing the wheel’. Perhaps we all need to accept that we are getting on with ‘practicising what we preach’, and giving these words the meaning they deserve. Competing interests: None declared