More Than a Message: Framing Public Health Advocacy to Change Corporate Practices

TLDR

Public health framing highlights the tension between individual freedom and collective responsibility. The article examines how market‑justice and social‑justice frames shape public dialogue on corporate health impacts and argues that advocates should foreground social‑justice values in policy debates. The authors provide lessons for health educators: understand prevailing values, align core messages with shared values, and develop media skills to compete in public debate.

Abstract

Framing battles in public health illustrate the tension in our society between individual freedom and collective responsibility. This article describes how two frames, market justice and social justice, first articulated in a public health context by Dan Beauchamp, influence public dialogue on the health consequences of corporate practices. The authors argue that public health advocates must articulate the social justice values motivating the changes they seek in specific policy battles that will be debated in the context of news coverage. The authors conclude with lessons for health education practitioners who need to frame public health issues in contentious and controversial policy contexts. Specific lessons include the importance of understanding the existing values and beliefs motivating the public health change being sought, the benefits of articulating core messages that correspond to shared values, and the necessity of developing media skills to compete effectively with adversaries in public debate.