Health and Risk Communication in Pandemics and Beyond: Strategies for a System Thinking, Community-Centered, and Equity-Driven Approach
A Global Health Communication Institute
Rome, Italy, July 6-17, 2026
The Institute will meet from Monday to Friday
9:00 am - 4:00 pm CET on Monday to Thursday and 9:00 am - 12:00 pm CET on Fridays
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REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Register before May 7, 2026. Details are at the foot of the page.
Please note that onsite registration will not be available
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WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Health, communication, international development, human rights, and community development professionals from a variety of sectors, organizations, and countries, including international organizations, government agencies, foundations, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, hospitals, and others. The course is open to all interested parties and is likely to benefit professionals who work on any kind of health, social, or disease issue/area and/or anyone who intends to work in health and risk communication in the future.
OVERVIEW
A summer global health communication institute that brings together professionals and leaders from multiple sectors and disciplines for an international professional development course in association with Strategies for Equity and Communication Impact (SECI) and the peer-reviewed Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media, and Engagement in Global Health.
Participants will engage in advanced conversations, strategies, and skills-building units on interdisciplinary topics at the intersections of health and risk communication, social and behavior change (SBC), social and behavior change communication (SBCC), system-thinking, community engagement, and health equity/human rights. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with international and Italian organizations in Rome and AUR faculty members with relevant experience on the topic.
Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for health and risk communication in the 21st century will be discussed not only as related to pandemics and disease outbreak settings but also to other health areas, community and population health issues, and social, political, and structural determinants of health and well-being. Participants will delve into strategies for enhancing health systems, engaging with communities, addressing inequities, and navigating political and social determinants of health. The curriculum emphasizes participatory, multisectoral and value-and identity-based communication strategies to achieve impactful behavioral, social and policy outcomes in various stages of pandemic management as well as in improving health, racial and social equity in the prevention and management of other key health and social issues of our time.
The course is grounded in the theory and practice of Social and Behavior Change (SBC) disciplines, Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC), Systems-Thinking, Health Equity, and Human Rights and fosters strategic thinking and skills on a transformative approach to health and risk communication in the 21st century. Nested in Rome, Italy, the course will include site visits and lectures from representatives and staff members of local and international organizations, hospitals, arts institutions, and AUR faculty members. A certificate of completion will be awarded to participants by The American University of Rome.
Participants in past sessions of this program include practitioners and scholars from leading institutions around the world, such as:
- American University of Beirut, Lebanon
- Arden University, Germany
- Assuricare, United States
- Catholic University of Brasilia, Brazil
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States
- CDC Foundation, United States
- Howard University, United States
- Indian Institute of Development Management (IIDM), India
- Oswaldo Cruz Foundation – FIOCRUZ- Brasilia, Brazil
- Penn State University College of Medicine, United States
- Premed Peers, United States
- Robert Koch Institute, Germany
- Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI), United States
- The College of New Jersey, United States
- UMass Chan Medical School, United States
- University of Saint Joseph, United States
- World Health Organization, Philippines
Lead faculty and course director: Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA, CCL
Senior Lecturer, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Principal, Strategies for Equity and Communication Impact (SECI)
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media and Engagement in Global Health (Taylor & Francis)
Founder and Board President, Board of Directors, Health Equity Initiative
Editorial Board Member, Health Equity (Mary Ann Liebert)
Senior Editor, Journal of Health Equity (Taylor & Francis)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renataschiavo/
Bio and work experience: https://www.renataschiavo.com/
FACULTY (GUEST LECTURES AND/OR SITE VISITS)
- UNICEF-Rome
- Doctors Without Borders Italy
- WHO Regional Office for Europe
- National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP)/WHO Collaborating Center on Health and Migration Evidence and Capacity Building
- The American University of Rome
- Others are to be announced.
For short bios of the faculty in this course, please visit this site again (to be posted soon).
WHAT PAST PARTICIPANTS SAY
“This experience deepened my understanding of how risk communication, when grounded in equity and systems thinking, can be a transformative tool for public health. As a U.S.-based public health leader and educator, I am committed to integrating global insights into my work with marginalized communities, preparing future practitioners to navigate misinformation, build trust, and advocate for structural change.”
– Natasha Patterson, PhD, Associate Professor of Public Health, The College of New Jersey (Summer 2025 Participant)
“This program was truly pivotal in my development as a future physician. It pushed me to think beyond the clinical lens and consider the broader systems that shape health from policy and communication to community trust and misinformation. I’ve come away with a deeper understanding of how essential it is to support the communities that are most vulnerable, and how my role as a physician extends far beyond treating illness. This course reminded me that building trust, listening to people’s concerns, and advocating for equitable access to accurate information are just as important as any diagnosis or prescription that I will give. Thank you so much to AUR, Dr. Renata Schiavo, and all speakers for this course. ”
– Simrat Jassal, Founder, Premed Peers, and Medical Student, Penn State College of Medicine (Summer 2025 Participant)
“This course has truly transformed me in how I approach research. On a course-level, I loved the thoroughness and diversity of the materials, rich discussions, and site visits. On a personal level, I am awed by Renata’s generosity, dedication, and immense knowledge that have helped me redefine the purpose of my own work in health and risk communication. I am walking away from Rome with a new sense of research ethics, practical knowledge, methods, and global connections that I am beyond thrilled to incorporate into my own work.”
--Nicole (Donghee) Lee, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow, UMASS Chan Medical School, United States (Summer 2024 Participant)
“I left the course with a valuable perspective on global and international health programs as well as frameworks that are directly applicable in all manner of communities. Additionally, the process of learning in a foreign university location is deeply effective. There is something profound about exploring a new country that opens one’s mind to concepts and perspectives outside the norm. Experiential learning through campus classes at AUR, site visits, and Rome’s ancient historic context all reinforce the carefully crafted material. My time at AUR this summer is already impacting my work,… as I approach challenges with confidence and understanding that human dignity, health in all policy, and a holistic approach to public health is indeed achievable.”
--Paloma Greenwald, RN, BSN, MA, Health Policy Nurse, and Registered Nurse Consultant on Aging, Assuricare, United States (Summer 2024 Participant)
This is “an expertly designed course. It is very timely given the current contextual challenges we are facing in the realm of public health. The material is very pertinent and can be easily adapted to fit our needs in research, policy, and practice.”
--Diana Jamal, MPH, Assistant Director for Operations at Knowledge to Policy Center and Instructor of Public Health Practice, American University of Beirut, Lebanon (Summer 2024 Participant)
“This program is incredibly influential in providing a framework for communication through a global perspective with endless applicability. It is easy to develop a myopic perspective from our daily work. This program opened my mind to new frameworks while also giving me confidence that my contribution is valuable in the broader discussion.”
- Summer 2024 Participant
“It is very rare to have such an engaging program, and I’ve enjoyed Renata’s really empathetic and motivating teaching style! You have made us all feel comfortable in our learning process, which has greatly contributed to the atmosphere during these last two weeks. Thank you!”
– Summer 2024 Participant
“I have learned much more than I expected, the course was really enriching and informative. I will use many of these skills and tools in my work. “
- Summer 2024 Participant
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This 10-day summer institute and professional development course focuses on lessons learned, future directions, and advanced conversations on health and risk communication related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other ongoing and past epidemics and emerging disease outbreaks in different regions worldwide. The course is grounded in the theory and practice of Social and Behavior Change (SBC) disciplines, Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC), Systems-Thinking, Health Equity, and Human Rights.
Participants will gain practical skills, strategies and resources for a participatory, multisectoral, integrated and community-driven approach to communication. This approach aims to achieve social, behavioral, organizational, and policy results in pandemic and interpandemic settings (including the preparedness, response, and recovery phases) as well as in addressing a variety of health and social issues. The implications of the course content for strengthening health and social systems, addressing social, political, and structural root causes of health inequities, and ultimately improving outcomes across different health areas and community and population health issues, will also be discussed.
The course also recognizes the disproportionate burden of pandemics and other public health emergencies and health conditions among populations and groups that are already affected by health, racial, and social inequities. It discusses methods and resources to design community-driven solutions and policies, improve the sustainability of communication and global health interventions and social and behavioral gains, and help advance health, racial, and social equity.
Special topics will include building and restoring trust in science and health information, addressing misinformation/disinformation, media ethics, the influence of social media and AI, storytelling for behavioral and social results, establishing collaborative partnerships with communities and patient groups, human-centered design and other participatory planning methods, and the role of arts-based communication and other participatory strategies for community, public and policy outreach.
Nested in Rome, Italy, the course will include site visits and lectures from representatives and staff members of local and international organizations, hospitals, the media, arts institutions, and AUR faculty members.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The course is organized into discussion/learning units, each of which includes several topics.
The first week of the course will be dedicated to an introduction, lessons learned from the pandemic and other recent public health crises, including an overview of future directions, and core principles for a system-thinking, community-centered, and equity-driven approach to health and risk communication in the 21st century. Participants will also practice select communication planning concepts, skills, and strategies within an integrated framework grounded in health equity, system-thinking, and human rights, which aims at social, behavioral, policy, and organizational change. The role of community-driven interventions and policies will also be discussed with particular emphasis on resources and skill-building for community and patient engagement.
The second week of the course will be dedicated to topics on the implementation and evaluation phases of health and risk communication interventions and research efforts. The role of participatory media, participatory evaluation, media ethics, mixed research methods, trust in health and science information, human-centered design, infodemic management, community engagement, multisectoral partnerships, and other timely topics will also be discussed.
Over the course of the ten days, the implications of the course content for various health and social areas, community and population health issues will be discussed, as will ways of addressing social, structural, political and informational determinants of health.
Through a combination of presentations, guest lectures, advanced discussions, Q&A sessions, case studies, group work, hands-on training and experiential exercises, and site visits, participants will ultimately gain knowledge and skills in the essential principles and strategies of health and risk communication in pandemics and beyond.
The course will culminate in each participant delivering a presentation on their reflections on the program's content and the future of health and risk communication. A certificate award ceremony and closing dinner will be held at the end of the course.
The course will be in English.
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COURSE TUITION
€2,000 (euros)/participant (without accommodations)
€2,800 (euros)/participant (with accommodations in AUR shared apartments)
MEALS
An opening aperitivo and a closing dinner are included in the tuition fee.
One additional aperitivo event will be organized closer to the date; this, too, is included in the tuition fee.
One or two optional extra-curriculum activities will also be organized
All other meals will be the responsibility of each participant and/or their organizational sponsors.
REGISTRATION:
Registration and full payment are required by May 7, 2026. An application processing fee of €40 (euros) is due at the time of your application. Participants will be accepted on a rolling basis. For accepted participants, a course deposit of €500 (euros) is due within three weeks from the acceptance date. Register early to secure your spot!
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL/VISA REQUIREMENTS
International participants must be informed about Italian travel information and hold a valid entry visa if required.
For non-EU citizens, you can check visa requirements here or with your local embassy.