November 2009
In communications, you have to remember that each person experiences your message through a lens of individual experience. This lens impacts the way we process incoming information and form opinions.
We use frames to set parameters around a message to help position or define it the way we wish it to be received. A teenager angling to get the car keys on Friday night might begin the conversation by reminding his parents about his good grades and clean room – we could call this the "responsibility" frame, and it has been time-tested.
In political discourse, frames are often based in longstanding ideological foundations, honed over the course of our nation's history. Those perspectives inform not only a party or individual position on an issue, but also the values and models that are used to communicate them – from the Senate floor to cable news to the dinner table.
To illustrate the way frames work on these levels, we share two resources that present framing strategies around the issue of health care reform. While they by no means encapsulate the full range of the ongoing debate, it is interesting to see how they play off each other, and how their frames have influenced the national conversation:
The Language of Healthcare |
Making the Public Case for Health Care Reform |
Humanize your approach. Abandon and exile ALL references to the "healthcare system." From now on, healthcare is about people. Before you speak, think of the three components of tone that matter most: Individualize. Personalize. Humanize. |
Focus on the health care system. Don't emphasize sympathy appeals or individual case stories. People do not understand how the health care system works, doubt that government can effectively intervene, and need help seeing everyone as part of the solution. |
The arguments against the Democrats' healthcare plan must center around "politicians," "bureaucrats," and "Washington" … not the free market, tax incentives, or competition. WASTE, FRAUD, and ABUSE are your best targets for how to bring down costs. |
Begin with value of Responsible Management. The cultural model of Health Care as a Right has limited appeal and is trumped by the Consumer model. Using the Value of Responsible Management, advocates can describe the health care system as broken, and that American-style practical problem solving from all sectors of society is needed to fix it. |
Americans will expect the government to look out for those who truly can't afford healthcare. Here is the perfect sentence for addressing cost and the limited role for government that wins you allies rather than enemies: "A balanced, common sense approach that provides assistance to those who truly need it and keeps healthcare patient-centered rather than government-centered for everyone." |
Redefine "the uninsured" to focus on situations instead of individuals. Explain the situations in which people lack insurance and try to do so in the most common way: divorced, downsized, first job, early retirement, etc. |
It's not enough to just say what you're against. You have to tell them what you're for … What Americans are looking for in healthcare that your "solution" will provide is, in a word, more: "more access to more treatments and more doctors…with less interference from insurance companies and Washington politicians and special interests." |
The end product [is] a step-by-step plan for fixing the health care system. Make sure the plan is understood to include reforms that would address problems of cost and quality as well as access. Define the process as steps toward a blueprint that will include a number of other important repairs to the system. |
Frames in Action
Now check out these stories and commentaries to see how these frames play out in the public arena:
Congressman Tom Price (R) on townhall.com
GOP accused of health reform 'fear-mongering'
Dubbed 'villains,' insurers counter Democrats' attack
AARP's position: AARP is fighting for you
GOP Has Health Care Ideas but Prefers Attacks on Obama
Framing Health Care Debate As Battle Of Sexes
Perhaps not surprisingly, according to a November 9 Gallup poll, Americans are split.