Health policy communication

The health policy communication pillar includes research on developing effective health policy communication strategies and understanding public attitudes towards heath policies. Below are examples of research, publications, faculty with relevant expertise, and CHPC briefs and initiatives related to health policy communication research.

Public Attitudes Toward Opioid Policies

Understanding U.S. public attitudes toward opioid policies is critical for shaping effective, evidence-based responses to the opioid crisis and the stigma associated with drug use. Research in this area examines how communication strategies impact public support for state and federal policies and the extent of public stigma toward opioid addiction, perceptions of responsibility for addressing addiction, and more—all factors that influence policy adoption and implementation.

A team of faculty and post-doctoral fellows from CHPC that span both Weill Cornell Medical College and the Cornell Ithaca campus are analyzing U.S. public attitudes toward opioid addiction and treatment policies. The team is currently working on the following:

Examining support for state policies requiring addiction treatment programs to offer FDA-approved medications for treating opioid addiction
Exploring levels of public stigma toward opioid addiction, perceptions of who is responsible for addressing the problem, and beliefs about the seriousness of the problem
Testing whether messages that describe the impact of evidence-based opioid treatment policies, both overall and in addressing racial disparities in overdose rates, can increase public support for these evidence-based policies