Communicating the Complexities of Health Care Research

Vanguard worked with the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA to unravel the perceptions of women of color surrounding skin-lightening products to better understand key themes including health risk, cultural and historical context, and usage trends. To better understand awareness, beliefs and perceptions of the use of skin-lightening products among women of color, we conducted literature reviews, in-depth interviews with subject matter experts and a series of focus groups with BIPOC women, which formed the foundation for messaging for a future public education campaign.  We also supported communications planning for the Foundation’s Real-World Accelerator to Improve the Standard of Collection and Curation of Race and Ethnicity Data in Healthcare (RAISE) project — which is convening experts to elevate the capture and curation of race and ethnicity data in health care settings. Vanguard offered our branding counsel, message development, digital content design and creation, and earned media outreach to help convey how incomplete and inconsistent capture of information about race and ethnicity limits a full understanding of the distribution, safety and effectiveness of FDA-regulated products.