Communicating Science: Lessons from the Challenge of Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

The 2009 public media debate over the US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on screening guidelines is only one example of an ongoing problem in science communication. Other points of difficulty concern: (a) challenges in communicating issues related to environmental risk (e.g., second hand tobacco smoke, environmental pollutants such as bisphenol A and butyl benzyl phthalate), while confronting a well-funded commercial lobby vested in seeding doubt for scientific conclusions; (b) challenges in presenting scientific findings more generally, especially in an information environment overloaded with what some journalists have referred to as “data smog;” and (c) a dizzying array of new media channels that can create challenges in proactively communicating health messages across multiple audiences. Evidence from the National Cancer Institute's “health communication and informatics” portfolio will be brought to bear on the mammography debate as a case-in-point for improving the systematic way in which scientific evidence is presented to lay audiences. A framework referred to as the “OPT-IN” framework (Organize, Plan, Test, and Integrate) will be introduced as the blueprint from which to design proactive communication efforts on complex data presentations.