Communications Plan
Garrett County Health Department | Garrett County, Maryland Quick Submit a Support TicketPolicies
The Garrett County Health Department is governed by local, state, and federal orders, policies, and laws regarding communications. Please review the following policy folder for more information about current policies.
As you review the policies, please take particular note of the following hierarchy:
- State policies/laws supersede local policies/laws, and state policies/laws are, in turn, superseded by federal policies/laws (so long as these govern our agency as a covered entity).
- Laws supersede policies where applicable.
See also:
- Garrett County Health Department Mission, Vision, and Core Values: https://garretthealth.org/mission-vision-core-values/
Viewable by anyone with a valid MDH Google account.
Viewable by anyone with a valid MDH Google account.
PHAB 1.5 Linkages: Domain 3, Measures 3.1.1 A, 3.1.2 A, 3.1.3 A, 3.2.1 A, 3.2.2 A, 3.2.3 A, 3.2.5 A, 3.2.6 A
CARF 2024 Linkages: Measure 1.G.3, 3.H.2, 5.A.5, 5.B.5
Approvals & Publishing
Please note that approvals and publishing are only available for existing materials considered complete and otherwise ready to go. These should only be created on the basis of a completed marketing plan and/or grant plan with further details, logic, or other documentation showing prior approval of planned strategies. Materials must be submitted prior to IRB approval, if applicable. Otherwise, please see the marketing plan option below.
APPROVAL PROCESS
All materials for external publication or dissemination must be approved by the Public Information Officer (or individual in acting role), Health Officer, or designee prior to release, and will be proofed for accuracy, sensitivity of content under a health equity lens, and appropriate licensure of included components.
READABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Media produced for general public release should meet the plain language reading standard, and be on an eighth-grade reading level, avoiding jargon and acronyms whenever possible, with supportive aids made available as provided by the Maryland Department of Health.
PHOTO RELEASE REQUIREMENTS
If a photo is used in the production of media, a photo release form must be signed by the person in the photo. If the subject is a minor, a parent or guardian must sign the form.
SOCIAL MEDIA/DIGITAL
All social media accounts and digital communications must be approved and accounted for regulatory purposes by either the Public Information Officer, the Health Officer, or a designee.
Records of all communications are to be kept in accordance with the GCHD record retention policies. This responsibility lies with the party who administers the programs for which accounts are created. Public social media profiles and websites serve as public records on their own, as long as the content is not removed or significantly altered so as to modify the initial message, unless warranted by programmatic or organizational mandate, in which an alternative record, such as a screenshot, will be retained.
No comment shall be removed unless it constitutes hate speech (targeted against an individual or community of individuals), violates individual privacy, or is deemed to be spam activity originating from outside the GCHD service area. In such cases, a record, such as a screenshot, must be retained for the given retention schedule.
MESSAGE TESTING
Prior to the approval and public distribution of materials and media, the submitting party should seek feedback on the messaging from focus group(s) or an applicable advisory group.
SENSITIVITY OF MESSAGES
Critical or sensitive information, materials, or media must also be approved by the Health Officer, or his designee, prior to external release.
Critical or sensitive information includes any information that is likely to have social, economic, or political ramifications or has an impact on the risks to human health; such as during an outbreak, environmental hazard, communicable disease, unusual event or an ongoing investigation, etc… The information may also be considered critical or sensitive if it crosses jurisdictional boundaries and is not aligned with national programs or recommendations. Staff should use their best judgment when considering whether information is critical or sensitive. Materials that are developed and targeted to vulnerable and protected populations, as covered under Maryland law, are not to be considered sensitive. When in doubt, submit to the Health Officer or designee.
BRANDING POLICY
All media and materials produced are to use the official templates as provided as appendices to this policy, and comply with the following guidelines:
Media and materials produced must include the official GCHD logo unless it is prohibitive to conveying its message, in which cases a watermark may be used to indicate affiliation with the agency:
Formal documents that carry legal implications, such as bills, assessments, and formal requests, such as contracts may also incorporate the use of the county seal as an indication of formality.
Media and materials produced, unless co-branded, are to be constructed using the Open Sans, Calibri, or similar systems fonts, be legible to the average viewer, and incorporate the following colors (or their closest comparative shade according to color format): #2F61AE, #20479E, #8CC63F, #5ABA47
The use of the NACCHO Public Health logo is highly encouraged as space allows but is not required.
HEALTH EQUITY POLICY
Produced media should seek to promote health equity through inclusionary language, vision, and principles to advance opportunity and ensure that all stakeholders have equitable access to materials and services regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or genetic information (per §20-602, Annotated Code of Maryland).
This requires the use of appropriate language to avoid prioritization of any one population and strictly prohibits materials or communications that may be deemed disparaging to any of these protected classes.
Per Maryland law and best practices in public health, the Garrett County Health Department will develop materials with health equity at the forefront and ensure that all stakeholders have access to culturally competent services including, but not limited to: language access services, support for individuals with disabilities, and respect for individual identities and cultures.
PUBLIC DOMAIN POLICY
All media – including, but not limited to: photos, videos, advertisements, press releases, articles, and code – created by the GCHD is considered to be in the public domain unless licensed under another appropriate open source license or otherwise specified by a funding requirement to ensure that materials are accessible to all stakeholders and fulfill the agency’s mission to prevent, promote, and protect public health. Any materials sourced outside of the GCHD must also comply with these licensing terms, or the individual utilizing the materials must serve as the custodian of record for all licensing requirements of those resources.
Questions? Go ahead and submit your ticket with questions attached or see the help section of this plan.
Marketing Plans
Marketing plans are available and encouraged to help unify performance management, quality improvement, and communications to improve population health outcomes. When in doubt, it’s always best to start with a marketing plan, and then transition to individual approvals/publishing once the core program/campaign has been developed in consultation with multiple services and resources across the agency. This process will be facilitated after the campaign has been submitted.
UNIT MARKETING PLANS
All units within the agency are to develop a marketing plan for the programs and services provided by their unit(s) and submit those plans via the internal ticketing system (found at gchdhelp.com) for review, planning, and resource allocation. Plans must be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the date of publishing and resources are to be allocated, as available, to further the agency’s overarching mission.
The unit marketing plan must be submitted using the marketing plan template to ensure that information is presented in an orderly and structured manner. It is the unit manager’s, or their designated coordinator(‘s), responsibility to submit plans in a timely manner to ensure that programmatic requirements are achieved.
All components submitted are to receive supervisory approval prior to submission. Once a completed plan has been submitted, the plan will be considered active, unless it is revoked. The submission of the unit marketing plan is to coordinate the processes involved in media approval and dissemination.
In the event that additional information is required or not supplied, the unit marketing plan will be post-dated to reflect the point at which all materials are obtained to begin implementing the plan’s components.
Questions? Go ahead and submit your ticket with questions attached or see the help section of this plan.
Help
Help is always available! Please reach out to those listed on the Communications Team page at https://garretthealth.org/communications-public-information-and-requests/ or submit a general support ticket at https://gchdhelp.com/index.php?a=add&category=1.
Still having difficulties? Email John at [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore frequently asked questions and find public, transparent responses for the uniform application of policy and consistent responses in the event of questions that fall outside the scope of written policy (informal policy).
How long in advance do tickets/requests need to be submitted?
As stated in our policy, the deadline is 30 days in advance; however, this varies depending on the type of request. Often, organic marketing requests and approvals are published within a week (frequently even on the same day!), press releases are published within 2-3 weeks (depending on the number currently in process to avoid diminishing impact), and paid advertisements are always held at a 30-day minimum (but we will do our best to coordinate these in alignment with spending requirements).
Can our unit create our own social media accounts/websites?
Yes, with a few requirements. All documentation (forms) must be completed in advance and returned to John for records coordination. Please submit a ticket with your request. We also require first-time account administrators to take a training course on current policies.
Additionally, websites do have a cost associated with operations. Limited spots are available for sponsorship under core funds, but domain names and security certificates must be purchased out of unit funds.
Can we advertise non-MDH positions?
Job opportunities that directly benefit the GCHD, but are not under the governance of MDH can be advertised if they advance the initiatives set forth by our agency. To do so, please submit a support ticket.
Informal policy established on August 28, 2024. This practice will proceed until revoked.
Who can approve materials for public use?
At this time, materials can be approved by the following individuals under our policy:
- Jennifer Hare, Interim Health Officer
- John Corbin, Public Information Officer
- Diane Lee, PIO-Trained Communications Team Member
For URGENT requests only, the following individuals may also approve items for use when the others are unavailable:
- Shelley Argabrite, Health Strategist
- Suzannah Sisler, Public Affairs
- Sarah Humberson, HEO Admin (ONLY HEO Requests)
If your unit feels that someone needs to be trained for URGENT requests, please let John know, and he can train up to two people in your unit.
Updated September 5, 2024