When Your Job is Public Health, But Your Life is Offline

Written By Nakia Bolden

Life Without Social Media (and Why I Don’t Miss It)

I don’t have social media outside of LinkedIn.
I don’t scroll TikTok for hours. I’m not on Instagram. Facebook? Deleted years ago.

Once, out of boredom, I created another Facebook account — it lasted all of two weeks before I deleted it again. Honestly, it wasn’t hard. I had already stopped enjoying and engaging with social media years earlier, back in my early twenties.

I even tried keeping Facebook for my business, but once I deleted my personal account, I lost access to my business page. I think I still have a business Instagram with a handful of followers, but I haven’t logged in since the current administration came into office.

Public Health Without the Constant Scroll

I started my public health career during one of the most challenging times in modern history — when COVID-19 was the second leading cause of death behind heart disease, right as the current administration took office.

Those years were bleak. The pandemic dominated the headlines. The news cycle revolved around decisions most of us could never have imagined ten years earlier.

I had the rare luxury of not seeing it all play out on my phone. Without Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, I missed the endless doom-scrolling and constant arguments. LinkedIn is technically social media, but the content there isn’t nearly as overwhelming or sensationalized.

That doesn’t mean I’ve been disconnected from what’s happening. Working in health policy means I have to read the news. I analyze federal and state bills, regulations, and laws that directly affect our field. COVID-19 showed the world the importance of public health and health behavior, and now, we’re facing a new challenge.

It feels like another kind of pandemic — this time, an attack on public health professionals, organizations, and funding. And the lesson now? How deeply systems and structural determinants of health shape health outcomes.

Conversations That Could Be Podcasts

Earlier today, I was on FaceTime with a friend — an MPH, RD, with a nutrition and sustainability background. Every time we talk, I swear it could be a podcast episode.

We spent over an hour discussing systemic and structural determinants of health, how they feed health disparities, and where public health professionals could step in to solve complex problems in spaces we haven’t fully explored yet. More on that in the future.

Where My Focus Is Now

August means a new academic year, and for me, that means teaching public health courses and mentoring early-career professionals. This is the work that truly fills my bucket.

I had big plans for I Am Health Education® this summer — including CHES®-approved CEUs ahead of my five-year renewal. Instead, I:

  • Revamped my CHES® prep course

  • Ghostwrote two academic chapters on public health nursing

  • And… let myself be a little lazy

Because life is too short to hustle 24/7.

About the Author

Kia Bolden, MPH, CHES®, is a public health educator, healthcare policy associate, and founder of I Am Health Education®. She specializes in chronic disease prevention, health equity, and public health education. Kia teaches undergraduate public health courses, mentors early-career professionals, and develops CHES® CEU programs for health educators.

Let’s Stay Connected

If you’re a public health professional, student, or organization looking for:

  • Speaking & Training in chronic disease prevention, health equity, and structural determinants of health

  • CHES® CEU-Approved Courses for certification renewal

  • Public Health Writing & Consulting

📩 Email: NBolden@iamhealtheducation.org
🌐 Visit: www.iamhealtheducation.org

Hustled Out,
Kia

Nakia Bolden
Next

July 2025.