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Engaging public audiences with population health science necessarily requires a society level perspective; however, many existing communication strategies and programs tend to focus at the individual level. This paper describes a novel approach to engaging community members with the social determinants of health outcomes using an interactive exhibit within a science centre. The exhibit was capable of supporting understanding about social determinants of health in adults and children under the age of 15 within an average three-minute interaction. The presence of a facilitator who guided and supported discussions about the exhibit and its concepts with the visitors was also key to sustaining visitor engagement. These exploratory findings suggest the use of informal learning settings, such as science centres and museums, may provide a means to communicate population health and improve discourse about public health policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen science engages members of the public in research design, data collection, and analysis - in asking and answering questions about the world around them. The United States, European Union, and Australia have placed citizen science at the forefront of national science policy. Journals such as Science, Nature and Bioscience regularly feature projects conducted by citizens. Citizen science engages millions of people worldwide. However, to date, population health science has not relied heavily on citizen contributions. Although community-based participatory action research remains a strong foundational method to engage those affected by public health problems, there is additional potential to mainstream population health through wider, less intensive opportunities to be involved in our science. If we are to tackle the complex challenges that face population health then new avenues are needed to capture the energy and attention of citizens who may not feel affected by public health problems, i.e. to engage the 'by-standers' in population health science. Particular types of citizen science methods have the potential to do this. But simply increasing the breadth and volume of scientific evidence will not be enough. Complex, intractable, macro-level problems in population health require change in how our journals and funding bodies respond to data generated by the public. Of course, democratisation of science and the potential decentralisation of scientific authority will bring deep challenges. But potentially it brings a future where population health science is better known, understood and respected, with benefits for the types of public policies that derive from this science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]