Better letters – evidence and considerations from the behavioural sciences: Behavioural and Cultural Insights policy brief series

Every day, thousands of letters are sent from health authorities encouraging recipients to attend an appointment, vaccinations, cancer screening, or a health check-up, or engage in other health-related behaviours. Many of these letters have the potential to be optimized for even more impact – that is, to make people act on them. Principles from communication science can help develop better letters. In addition, this document presents evidence from the behavioural sciences, which can also help develop more impactful letters.

This policy brief presents nine considerations that can be applied across the process to develop, review or evaluate letters:

• ensure a clear call to action;
• keep a letter short and simple;
• address the barriers to and leverage the drivers for a behaviour;
• draw on relevant psychological mechanisms;
• adapt a letter to a cultural context and consider health equity;
• attract a readers’ attention;
• use the right sender and signatory;
• test the letter and engage with intended recipients; and
• combine with reminders.