Summer 2024 Fellow: Sidney Salcedo
Office Description
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department focuses on protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, disease and injury prevention, and the promotion of sound health policy. The Communications team within the Public Health Department is responsible for: Strategic advice to Department leadership and program staff on using communications and media relations tactics to achieve public health program goals, including social marketing and behavior change Media relations activities to facilitate interview and accurate news coverage, including media buy recommendations Web and social media projects, including website planning and management, digital marketing, and analytics Visual and brand identity, including some graphic design of health education materials for priority populations in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other languages, or contractor management of outside orgs doing this work for us Risk communications during disasters and public health emergencies To learn more about how the Public Health Department serves the people who live, work, study, and play in Santa Clara County, please visit our website: sccphd.org.
Description of the Work
Fellows and interns in our office take on responsibility for communications projects that may involve collaboration with other parts of our organization as well as external groups.
- Researches traditional media and online promotion/marketing tactics for public health programs, make media buy recommendations that will really move the needle on behavior change, secure approval, help to implement and evaluate.
- Writes plans to bring public attention to events and Department announcements, assists implementation.
- Work with graphic designer and public health experts to assist with the revision of health education brochures, developing online and hardcopy materials that increase program utilization.
- Evaluates marketing, outreach, public awareness and promotional efforts, and documents lessons learned.
- Documents components of Department progress to maintain formal accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board.
- Provide assistance with drafting and management of content and photo/video assets for the Department website and social media, to ensure complete and current content.
- Drafts needed standard operating procedures, job aids, and other documents.
- Participate in office staff and Department leadership meetings.
- Additional opportunities available based on intern’s interests and experience.
Desired Skills
- Very strong writing skills
- Excellent organizational skills, managing complex tasks with overlapping streams of activity
- Judgment and discretion in handling sensitive information
- Basic understanding of health science and/or statistics would be helpful, as take an approach to content and programs that is informed by data
- Language skills (Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin) would be helpful but are not required
- If you have graphic design skills (Photoshop) or video editing skills, please say so.