Here at We ❤️ Health Literacy Headquarters, we believe the clearest voices in health communication are often those closest to the communities they support. That’s why we were so excited to chat with Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO of Grapevine Health and the force behind the impactful video series “Dr. Lisa on the Street.” We loved hearing Dr. Lisa’s perspective on what it really means to meet people where they are — and why storytelling is one of our most powerful tools for building trust.
Dr. Lisa is an infectious disease doctor and a medical epidemiologist who’s worked in academic medicine, at Medicaid, and on the streets of cities across the U.S. Throughout her career, Dr. Lisa has worked with people from all walks of life, and many have expressed the same frustration: Clear and simple health information is hard to find! “People are craving relatable, plain language explanations — and we’re falling short,” she said. This realization inspired Dr. Lisa to start Grapevine Health, a digital health company that delivers trusted, relatable health information to underserved communities via video.
Over and over again, Dr. Lisa’s experiences have brought her back to 2 interconnected ideas: trust and trauma. These aren’t just buzzwords. They’re key factors that shape people’s ability to understand and act on health information.
“The trauma of living in poverty — of working 2 jobs, not having access to healthy food or transportation — leads people to put health care on the back burner,” she explains. And understanding is key to building trust, especially for people who are often overlooked and unsupported by public health and health care systems. One man Dr. Lisa met at a shelter for unhoused people put it plainly: “If I don’t understand you when you’re talking to me, I don’t trust you.”
This insight drives Grapevine’s work, and it’s shaped Dr. Lisa’s approach to creating content people actually want to watch. Inspired by late-night comedy bits, her video series “Dr. Lisa on the Street” started as a way to bring plain language health education to everyday people in the places where they spend time — like the bus stop, or, well, on the street! Over time, the series evolved into Grapevine Health’s broader mission to humanize health communication.
Dr. Lisa also saw the need to focus on an often-overlooked population: people with Medicaid coverage. “Medicaid is the backbone of the health care system,” she says. “But right now, it’s under attack. And the stories we hear about Medicaid are often just wrong.” She points to common misconceptions like the belief that Medicaid is only for people who don’t want to work. In reality, Medicaid supports everyone from seniors in assisted living facilities to adults with disabilities — and it helps keep essential institutions like rural hospitals open.
“We need to tell stories — not just of Medicaid beneficiaries, but of families, providers, and communities who rely on Medicaid,” Dr. Lisa says. “That’s how we counter the false narratives. That’s how we build understanding.”
Dr. Lisa doesn’t shy away from naming what’s broken. Too often, she says, people approach health communication like a box to check, sticking with the same strategies without asking if their messages are actually reaching people. Her advice to fellow health communicators? Get out of the building. Talk to real people. And avoid the buzzwords — unless you’re ready to back them up with action. “Meeting people where they are isn’t a phrase. It’s a practice,” says Dr. Lisa. “And we can’t afford to get it wrong.”
The bottom line: To craft trauma-informed health messages that build understanding and trust, take a page from Dr. Lisa’s book. Talk to real people in the places where they live, work, and play.
Copy/paste to share on social (and tag us!): This week, CommunicateHealth sat down with Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick from @GrapevineHealth about building trust in #HealthComm — and what it really means to meet people where they are. Check out our conversation: https://communicatehealth.com/wehearthealthliteracy/voices-from-the-field-lisa-fitzpatrick-grapevine-health/ #HealthLiteracy
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