Written Style Guide

First reference is the first mention of something in a publication or article. 

Second reference refers to the second time it is mentioned. 

When possible, avoid the use of acronyms, especially in documents for the general public. In documents of a more technical nature, limited use of acronyms may be permitted. For example, in an epidemiological profile of hepatitis C targeted for use by partner organizations, use of the acronym HCV would be appropriate when referring to the virus. 

Addiction is the preferred term for the disease; however, substance use disorder may be used in some instances. When possible, avoid language that can further stigmatize the disease of addiction. 

For example, Keene had trouble keeping his job because of alcoholism. or Yang joined other people with heroin addiction at the conference. 

Follow Associated Press style. 

Spell out all road designations, except street (St.), avenue (Ave.) and boulevard (Blvd.), and those only when used after a numbered address, 

i.e.: The Kenton County Health Center is at 2002 Madison Ave. in Covington. The health center has been located on Madison Avenue since 2007. 

The Boone County Health Center is located at 7505 Burlington Pike. 

Abbreviate Kentucky as Ky. when used after the city name, i.e.: The Health Department’s administrative offices are in Florence, Ky. 

Common addresses:

• 8001 Veterans Memorial Drive (note there is no apostrophe in Veterans)

• 7505 Burlington Pike

• 1098 Monmouth St.

• 234 Barnes Road

• 2002 Madison Ave.

 May be used sparingly and only for added emphasis. 

Proper name for state agency in Frankfort, includes the Department for Public Health, as well as social services such as Medicare, Medicaid, aging services, mental health services and child support. 

Text will not be in all capital letters. Capitalize the first word of a sentence, the first letter of each word in a title and proper nouns.

Refer to as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on first reference. Afterward, CDC is acceptable.

 When referring to the city in Ohio, the state is not required. For example, Northern Kentucky is located across the river from Cincinnati. 

For documents that require a list of citations, the American Psychological Association’s guide will be used for style and formatting. 

Generally, do not use courtesy titles in the text. 

Exception: Dr. can be used before the name of someone who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of optometry, doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of podiatric medicine or doctor of veterinary medicine. 

When writing in paragraph form, if mention of a degree is necessary to establish someone’s credentials, use a phrase to do so: John Jones, who has a doctorate in psychology, led the meeting. In other professional communications, degrees and credentials may be listed after a name to establish credbilitiy, i.e. on a business card Sara Smith, RN, MSN or on the title slide of a PowerPoint presentation John Smith, RS. 

Unless necessary to distinguish between two divisions, division names are not needed. When needed, however, the following names should be used: Administration, Clinical Services, Environmental Health and Safety, and Population Health. 

Work units may be specified with divisions.  For example: the Epidemiology Unit of the Population Health Division. 

Do not capitalize arthritis, emphysema, leukemia, diabetes, etc. When a disease is known by the person who identified it, capitalize only by the individual’s name, i.e. Parkinson’s disease.

Refers to the full, four-county board.

Be sure to note when you are using figures for the fiscal year. Our fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. Can be abbreviated as FY 2023 in charts. When writing for the general public on first reference, please explain when the fiscal year runs on first reference. For example, 445 patients were counseled in our diabetes program in fiscal year 2003 (July 2002-June 2003). The numbers for fiscal year 2003 were 21 percent higher than those for fiscal year 2002.

Clinical service sites should be referred to as county health centers and not Health Departments (Health Department refers to entire district)—Boone County Health Center, Campbell County Health Center, Grant County Health Center and Kenton County Health Center. In internal documents and internal emails, abbreviations (BCHC, CCHC, GCHC and KCHC) are acceptable on second reference. 

Two words, unless part of an organization’s name, i.e. St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

Lists of items should have commas in between all items except the last two. For example: I bought strawberries, milk, graham crackers and ice cream. 

Capitalize all job titles, either before or after a name (i.e. Director of Clinical Services Sara Smith or Sara Smith, Director of Clinical Services).

• Do not abbreviate when written in text/full sentence. 

• In addresses, Kentucky may be abbreviated as Ky. when used with a city name. For example: She works at the office in Edgewood, Ky. 

• The abbreviation KY should only be used with a postal ZIP Code in addresses.

Refers to state health department in Frankfort. See Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Use with the county name, i.e. Boone County Local Board of Health, Campbell County Local Board of Health, Grant County Local Board of Health and Kenton County Local Board of Health.

Note the hyphen.

Health care program for the needy who are 64 or younger.

Health care program for those people who are 65 or older.

Use figures and spell out common units of measurement. For example, at birth the child weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces. For more technical units of measurement, abbreviate and then follow with a common range. For example, a child’s lead level is dangerous if it is greater than 20 mg/dl (micrograms per deciliter). Children with lead levels of less than 5 mg/dl are considered to have no risk of lead poisoning. 

On second reference, use the last name in all materials going to external audiences. For example, Sara Smith is the Director of Clinical Services. Smith has been with the Health Department for more than 15 years. For internal materials (i.e. NKY Health Insider), use the first name on second reference. For example, Sara Smith is the Director of Clinical Services. Sara has been with the Health Department for more than 15 years.

Note that this is one word.

Use words for the numbers one through nine; use numerals for 10 or greater or for any age. 

Examples: 

• Nine people came to work today. 

• Our staff on a normal day is 15. 

• We see many 3-year-olds during our well-child clinics.

Northern Kentucky: Should be spelled out on first reference with initial capital letters. On second reference, abbreviation NKY is acceptable.  

On first reference, refer to agency as the Northern Kentucky Health Department. On second or later references, use either Health Department or NKY Health. Abbreviations such as NKHD should not be used. 

Notice use of dash for on-site sewage systems.

All phone numbers should be written in the following format: 859-341-4264. 

Use the area code in all cases. 

When an extension number is needed, used a comma to separate it: 859-341-4264, ext. 123.

Our website address should be written as http://www.nkyhealth.org when used as part of a full sentence. When not in a full sentence, www.nkyhealth.org is acceptable. 

For questions about the style guide, please contact the Public Information Officer.

6/20/2023

• Added Revision Log