E82: Looking Ahead With to 2026 - The Challenges Ahead for Strategic Comms with CIPR Health - Steph Snow

Final Episode of 2025

Guest: Stephanie Snow, Chair of CIPR Health
Theme: The future of health communications, behaviour change, and reputation as we head into 2026

We’re closing out 2025 with a thoughtful, energising conversation about where health communications is heading next. Recorded earlier this year but released now to harness the fresh start effect, this episode looks squarely at the realities communicators face as we plan for 2026.

Steph brings over 20 years’ experience across agency and in-house roles, and shares sharp insight on leadership, professional standards, and why communications has never been more critical—or more misunderstood.

“Reputations are long and hard to build, and very easily broken. Organisations that treat communications as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a strategic function are making themselves extremely vulnerable.”

1. Fragmented information ecosystems
Audiences now live in highly personalised, often invisible digital spaces. Conversations are happening in places communicators can’t easily see, track, or respond to—raising both reputational and ethical challenges.

2. Communications being undervalued in tough economic times
When budgets tighten, comms roles are often the first to go. Steph argues this is a false economy: organisations that cut strategic communications weaken their ability to manage trust, credibility, and long-term impact.

3. Behaviour change in an environment stacked against health
From junk food saturation to commercial determinants of health, communicators are trying to influence behaviour in contexts that actively undermine healthy choices—making strategy, not just messaging, essential.

4. The shift from strategic leadership to tactical delivery
Despite rising complexity, communications is still too often reduced to outputs rather than influence. Steph makes a strong case for reclaiming comms as a core leadership and decision-making function.

5. Skills, confidence, and professional development gaps
As roles evolve, so must capability. Ongoing CPD, ethical reflection, and peer learning are no longer optional extras—they’re how the profession stays credible and resilient.

• Why eye contact still matters—even in a Zoom-dominated world

• How being a “well-hidden introvert” can make you a better communicator

• What health communicators can learn from aviation, failure, and pre-mortems

• Why learning should feel energising, not like another item on the to-do list

• How community, connection, and shared thinking protect against burnout

📘 Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
A powerful reminder that progress comes from learning rigorously from what goes wrong—and applying that thinking to campaign planning, misinformation, and reputation management.

As we step into 2026, this conversation is a call to take communications seriously again: as a profession, a strategic discipline, and a force for better health outcomes. It’s thoughtful, honest, and quietly galvanising.

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