Public relations—Health and welfare

Abstract

A neglected and undervalued function in the management of health and welfare agencies is brought smartly front and center for the examination of health and welfare professionals in this new book. Based upon a 1965 workshop at the Columbia University School of Social Work, the book advances the thesis that public relations must beome a key concem of today's health and welfare agency management. The editors, Schmidt and Weiner, believe that the public relations specialist must be involved at the start of the goalsetting process if agency management is to secure and maintain the understanding and support of the many publics with which deals. Thus, the first requirement for agency success in communicating its purposes and programs is to make the public relations specialist a partner in their formulation. Once the public relations department is thus armed, editor Weiner says, it can perhaps do the best job of finding potential clients or patients (and why else do many organizations exist?). It can play a major role in informing people about health and social hazards and safeguards. It helps in a key way to raise needed funds, recruit volunteers, inform legislators, and account for expenditures of funds and service. It's no wonder that some knowing administrators and boards consider those with public relations interest and experience as major partners in husbanding the organization's affairs. People in health and welfare can learn a great deal from this book about their public relations responsibilities and opportunities. Sallie Bright explains the over-all stake of management in sound public relations programing and planning. Frances Schmidt offers a clearheaded chapter on public relations and mass communication with do's and don'ts that can be helpful to young and old in the persuasion arts. Irving Rimer makes clear, in his chapter, how health and welfare agencies can benefit from controversy in developing issues to attract attention and precipitate action. Mr. Rimer offers a number of case histories of health and welfare agencies embroiled in community controversy which they have used constructively to further their cause and the understanding of their publics. In a final chapter on new directions for public relations, editor Weiner emphasizes that understanding and support have to be sought aggressively by health and welfare agencies. In seeking such support, agencies in this country have much to learn about restating and refining their goals and communications technics. But the agency cannot hope to substitute public relations for performance. In the long run the job that an agency does in keeping faith with its stated mission is the basis upon which will be judged by the mass media, by its publics, and by society. HARoLD MANTELL