Writing
The following guidelines support writing for the Adventist Health brand. Whether your audience is employees, patients, consumers, providers or legislators, this guide helps ensure consistency across the broad spectrum of writing needs by articulating our unique voice, tone and style.
Our Voice and Tone Guidelines
As you write on behalf of Adventist Health, ensure your copy is aligned with Adventist Health’s mission. Remember that we are a partner in health for our communities, focused on innovative solutions and quality care.
Adventist Health’s voice and tone are always:
Approachable, but not casual
While we’re serious about healthcare and living well, audiences should feel like they can come to us with anything and everything — because they can. However, we don’t want to sound unprofessional or too familiar.
Inspiring, but not fake
Audiences need to see they can achieve their health and lifestyle goals with Adventist Health, but we’re not going to give false hope or sound inauthentic in the process.
Vibrant, but not over-the-top
We’re a dynamic, energetic and passionate organization. Our content should reflect that, without sounding overdone, outrageous or flippant.
Trustworthy, but not overconfident
We live a mission and vision that we and others genuinely believe in, but we would never hold that above anyone or boast about it. Instead, we welcome everyone and want them to trust what we say, because we live those values every day.
Voice
Voice is an expression of Adventist Health’s personality. It’s steady and strongly tied to our core identity, uniting our brand to meet our audience’s needs.
About Adventist Health
Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit, integrated health system serving more than 90 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii with over 400 sites of care, including 26 acute care facilities. Founded on Adventist heritage and values, Adventist Health provides care in hospitals, clinics, home care, and hospice agencies in both rural and urban communities. Our compassionate and talented team of 37,000 includes employees, physicians, allied health professionals and volunteers driven in pursuit of one mission: living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness, and hope. We are committed to staying true to our heritage by providing patient-centered, quality care. Together, we are transforming the healthcare experience with an innovative and whole-person focus on physical, mental, spiritual and social healing to support community well-being.
Functional
Functional means helpful — it clearly organizes ideas and anticipates the audience’s needs, helping to make informed experiences whenever interacting with the brand (in our hospitals, clinics, offices and online). Often you will see our functional style in wayfinding, forms and patient education. A functional voice isn’t sterile; instead, it brings attention to the purpose of the communication.
You are made for more
More growth. More connection. More knowing you made a difference. Throughout our hospitals and clinics, Adventist Health offers an environment where associates can continue to learn and grow while also helping the individuals in our communities live healthier, happier lives. We are dedicated to tranforming the health experience of our communities in California, Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest through our unique focus on caring for the whole person — mind, body and spirit. As a faith-based health system founded on Seventh-day Adventist heritage and values, we know how important it is to put your mission first. Because you were made for a fulfilling and inspired career here at Adventist Health.
Expressive
Expressive copy is where our brand personality comes to life. We use expressive moments to connect our services to our mission and purpose. When we have the opportunity, we tell stories about the people in our communities and the impact they have made. But even when working with just a few words, our copy should aim to inspire — always considering where our audience interacts with us and how to make every word count. Often you will find our expressive voice in advertising, patient and employee stories, and on social media.
Tone
While the Adventist Health voice should be consistent, our tone can and will change based on who we’re talking to (audiences) and where the conversation occurs (platforms). Consider the reader’s frame of mind, and why or how they arrived to the conversation (context). Tone reflects the feelings you have when you communicate, so you should always be thoughtful about adjusting the tone to be appropriate to the situation.
Audiences
Our tone should meet people where they are. Audiences can be vastly different based on the platform they’re using — even if they’re the same individual. We speak to a wide variety of people, including, but not limited to, employees, patients, community partners, consumers, legislators and leaders.
Platforms
Our tone is determined by where we’ve met our audience. We speak to people in advertisements, social media, wayfinding signage, patient guides, forms and many other platforms.
Context
Our tone should adjust to match the situation. When considering the context of the audience, it’s important to approach with empathy — putting ourselves in our audience’s point of view and the feelings they may have in a particular situation.
Style
Our style ensures that all our work is consistent, no matter where someone encounters it.
