Learn how you can talk about vaccines with anyone in this free course!
Having a conversation with someone about vaccines requires much more than just facts and information—it requires trust and empathy too. “How to talk about vaccines when you’re not an expert” is a free Lifeology-powered flashcard course. It includes practical tips and supporting illustrations to help you talk about vaccines, even if you are not a vaccine expert! This course was created by two science communicators, including Cochrane’s Muriah Umoquit, as a response to an activity prompt in the Lifeology SciComm Certificate Program. Learn more about the course and its creation in this Cochrane news item.
“Cochrane was excited to collaborate with Lifeology for a second time,” says Sylvia de Haan, Cochrane’s Head of Advocacy, Communications and Partnerships. “Previously we collaborated on a course explaining what an infodemic was and how we can prevent it. It’s been very popular and even available in 6 different languages! We hope this new course will give researchers and scientists the tools to draw from to talk about vaccines, while building trust and advocating for quality evidence. Our Cochrane Community is going to especially enjoy the little details in the artwork that are hidden just for them!”
Muriah Umoquit and Abbey Morris created this course. As a science communicator, Muriah oversees all of Cochrane’s communication channels. Abbey is a science communicator and artist who is passionate about science, art and social justice.
This course is special in a couple of ways. Muriah and Abbey were both participants in the pilot cohort of our Lifeology SciComm Certificate Program. As part of their final month in the program, they were asked to collaborate with each other to write part of a Lifeology course about vaccines for an audience of their choosing. They did a such a great job on the partial course that we all thought it was a great idea they work on it to completion!
And that brings us to the second way this course is special. Once Muriah and Abbey were done creating their course, they used the Lifeology Builder to bring it to life. The Lifeology Builder allows anyone to create their own Lifeology courses. We are thrilled to see the Lifeology community using the tool. You can build your own course, too! Build your first course for free.
From the Creators:
“I really enjoyed illustrating my first Lifeology course! Working with Muriah was a great experience because we checked in with each other often and collaboratively brainstormed ideas. When creating the illustrations, we made a conscious effort to use inclusive imagery and avoided adding any text that would hinder future language translations. One of my favourite parts of the process was seeing the course come to life once I added colour to the illustrations. Since we worked with Cochrane, we knew we wanted to incorporate their brand’s colour scheme. This made it much easier to decide how the illustrations would look and allows for consistency across communications.” – Abbey
“Abbey and I started working together for our final Lifeology SciComm Certificate Program project. It was great to see it develop into a full course! We worked with two experts to help review and finalize the content. Ruobing provided input on the evidence around vaccine hesitancy and Juan helped to make sure the content of the course makes sense for future translation work. I’ve been asked about vaccines in the past and even as a professional science communicator, I wasn’t always confident in how to handle the situation. This course will be a great resource for many with its practical tips!”
Learn more about Cochrane:
- Cochrane website
- What is an infodemic and how can we prevent it?: a Lifeology and Cochrane collaboration
- Cochrane on Twitter
- Cochrane on Instagram
The Builder
The Lifeology Builder is an easy-to-use platform for developing custom courses on any science or health topic. Have a topic you’re knowledgeable about or research you’d like to share? Do you want to build awareness around a health issue, create a health tutorial or how-to, engage students, fulfill broader impact requirements, or summarize your research for funders, policy leaders, public audiences or even kids? A Lifeology course can help with any of these goals, and you can get started with your own course now!
SciComm Certificate Program
Muriah and Abbey took part in our successful pilot SciComm Certificate Program, and now it’s available to YOU! Learn evidence-based principles and strategies for effective science and health communication while putting your knowledge into practice with collaborative assignments. In addition to earning a Science Communication Certificate and letter of achievement for completing the program, top achievers in each program cohort receive a paid science writing or illustration opportunity that can earn them the status of a Lifeology Certified Creator! Apply for our program starting in August!
