Public Health Agencies Outreach through Instagram during COVID-19 Pandemic: Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Perspective

AbstractObjectiveSince 2003, the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission (formerly the Ministry of Health) has implemented changes to more effectively communicate risk during public health emergencies. In spite of ongoing improvements, provincial and sub-provincial leaders face barriers, such as established modes of operation, lack of training, shortage of trained risk communicators, and limited understanding and willingness of recipients to mitigate risks.MethodsWe assessed the current status of and barriers to risk communication knowledge and practice among public health practitioners in China. We designed the survey questionnaire to capture information related to the risk communication core capacities required by international health regulations and common risk communication principles.ResultsOur findings showed that risk communication training has successfully developed an awareness of risk communication principles and the ability to implement those principles in practice in China.ConclusionsFuture efforts should focus on areas such as a dedicated risk communication workforce, requirements that public health agencies develop a risk communication plan, and additional training for public health practitioners and their partners. It is critical that the infectious diseases prevention and control law be amended to grant provincial and local public health agencies more autonomy to release information. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-7)

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Examining Tweet Content and Engagement of Canadian Public Health Agencies and Decision Makers During COVID-19: Mixed Methods Analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.24883 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Catherine E Slavik ◽

Charlotte Buttle ◽

Shelby L Sturrock ◽

J Connor Darlington ◽

Niko Yiannakoulias

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Risk Communication ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Medical Health ◽

Health Accounts

BACKGROUND Effective communication during a health crisis can ease public concerns and promote the adoption of important risk-mitigating behaviors. Public health agencies and leaders have served as the primary communicators of information related to COVID-19, and a key part of their public outreach has taken place on social media platforms. OBJECTIVE This study examined the content and engagement of COVID-19 tweets authored by Canadian public health agencies and decision makers. We propose ways for public health accounts to adjust their tweeting practices during public health crises to improve risk communication and maximize engagement. METHODS We retrieved data from tweets by Canadian public health agencies and decision makers from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020. The Twitter accounts were categorized as belonging to either a public health agency, regional or local health department, provincial health authority, medical health officer, or minister of health. We analyzed trends in COVID-19 tweet engagement and conducted a content analysis on a stratified random sample of 485 tweets to examine the message functions and risk communication strategies used by each account type. RESULTS We analyzed 32,737 tweets authored by 118 Canadian public health Twitter accounts, of which 6982 tweets were related to COVID-19. Medical health officers authored the largest percentage of COVID-19–related tweets (n=1337, 35%) relative to their total number of tweets and averaged the highest number of retweets per COVID-19 tweet (112 retweets per tweet). Public health agencies had the highest frequency of daily tweets about COVID-19 throughout the study period. Compared to tweets containing media and user mentions, hashtags and URLs were used in tweets more frequently by all account types, appearing in 69% (n=4798 tweets) and 68% (n=4781 tweets) of COVID-19–related tweets, respectively. Tweets containing hashtags also received the highest average retweets (47 retweets per tweet). Our content analysis revealed that of the three tweet message functions analyzed (information, action, community), tweets providing information were the most commonly used across most account types, constituting 39% (n=181) of all tweets; however, tweets promoting actions from users received higher than average retweets (55 retweets per tweet). When examining tweets that received one or more retweet (n=359), the difference between mean retweets across the message functions was statistically significant (<i>P</i><.001). The risk communication strategies that we examined were not widely used by any account type, appearing in only 262 out of 485 tweets. However, when these strategies were used, these tweets received more retweets compared to tweets that did not use any risk communication strategies (<i>P</i><.001) (61 retweets versus 13 retweets on average). CONCLUSIONS Public health agencies and decision makers should examine what messaging best meets the needs of their Twitter audiences to maximize sharing of their communications. Public health accounts that do not currently employ risk communication strategies in their tweets may be missing an important opportunity to engage with users about the mitigation of health risks related to COVID-19.

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Housing Programmes: The Role of Public Health Agencies

Urban Studies ◽

10.1080/00420986520080391 ◽

1965 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 195-196

Author(s):

Andrew Semple

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Health Agencies

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The Perils of Partnership

10.1093/oso/9780190907082.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jonathan H. Marks

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Multinational Corporations ◽

Separation Of Powers ◽

Public Health Research ◽

Noncommunicable Diseases ◽

New Paradigm ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Ethical Implications ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Public Bodies

Collaboration with industry has become the paradigm in public health. Governments commonly develop close relationships with companies that are creating or exacerbating the very problems public health agencies are trying to solve. Nowhere is this more evident than in partnerships with food and soda companies to address obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. The author argues that public-private partnerships and multistakeholder initiatives create webs of influence that undermine the integrity of public health agencies; distort public health research and policy; and reinforce the framing of public health problems and their solutions in ways that are least threatening to the commercial interests of corporate “partners.” We should expect multinational corporations to develop strategies of influence. But public bodies need to develop counter-strategies to insulate themselves from corporate influence in all its forms. The author reviews the ways in which we regulate public-public interactions (separation of powers) and private-private interactions (antitrust and competition laws), and argues for an analogous set of norms to govern public-private interactions. The book also offers a novel framework that is designed to help public bodies identify the systemic ethical implications of their existing or proposed relationships with industry actors. The book makes a compelling case that, in public health, the paradigm public-private interaction should be at arm’s length: separation, not collaboration. The author calls for a new paradigm to protect and promote public health while avoiding the ethical perils of partnership with industry.

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International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

American Behavioral Scientist ◽

10.1177/0002764221992832 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 000276422199283

Author(s):

Serena Tagliacozzo ◽

Frederike Albrecht ◽

N. Emel Ganapati

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Social Groups ◽

Online Communication ◽

The United States ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Communication Ecology ◽

Health Agencies ◽

National Public Health

Communicating during a crisis can be challenging for public agencies as their communication ecology becomes increasingly complex while the need for fast and reliable public communication remains high. Using the lens of communication ecology, this study examines the online communication of national public health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Based on content analysis of Twitter data ( n = 856) and agency press releases ( n = 95), this article investigates two main questions: (1) How, and to what extent, did national public health agencies coordinate their online communication with other agencies and organizations? (2) How was online communication from the agencies diversified in terms of targeting specific organizations and social groups? Our findings indicate that public health agencies relied heavily on internal scientific expertise and predominately coordinated their communication efforts with national government agencies. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that agencies in each country differed in how they diversify information; however, all agencies provided tailored information to at least some organizations and social groups. Across the three countries, information tailored for several vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and homeless populations) was largely absent, which may contribute to negative consequences for these groups.

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Non-woven materials for cloth-based face mask inserts: Relationship between material properties and sub-micron aerosol filtration

Environmental Science Nano ◽

10.1039/d1en00277e ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Leigh Crilley ◽

Brian Malile ◽

Andrea Angelucci ◽

Cora Young ◽

Trevor C. VandenBoer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Material Properties ◽

Face Mask ◽

Respiratory Viruses ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Aerosol Filtration ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Current Guidance

Current guidance by leading public health agencies recommends wearing a 3-layer cloth-based face mask with a middle non-woven material insert to reduce the transmission of infectious respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2....

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A tale of two parts of Switzerland: regional differences in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11315-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michelle Seiler ◽

Georg Staubli ◽

Julia Hoeffe ◽

Gianluca Gualco ◽

Sergio Manzano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Regional Differences ◽

Online Survey ◽

Pediatric Emergency ◽

The South ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

The North ◽

Regional Strategies ◽

Health Agencies ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background We aimed to document the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on regions within a European country. Methods Parents arriving at two pediatric emergency departments (EDs) in North of Switzerland and two in South of Switzerland completed an online survey during the first peak of the pandemic (April–June 2020). They were asked to rate their concern about their children or themselves having COVID-19. Results A total of 662 respondents completed the survey. Parents in the South were significantly more exposed to someone tested positive for COVID-19 than in the North (13.9 and 4.7%, respectively; P < 0.001). Parents in the South were much more concerned than in the North that they (mean 4.61 and 3.32, respectively; P < 0.001) or their child (mean 4.79 and 3.17, respectively; P < 0.001) had COVID-19. Parents reported their children wore facemasks significantly more often in the South than in the North (71.5 and 23.5%, respectively; P < 0.001). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant regional differences among families arriving at EDs in Switzerland. Public health agencies should consider regional strategies, rather than country-wide guidelines, in future pandemics and for vaccination against COVID-19 for children.

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Preparedness and response of a tertiary hospital to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: challenges, opportunities and lessons

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ◽

10.1093/trstmh/trab028 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Darlington E Obaseki ◽

Iriagbonse I Osaigbovo ◽

Esohe O Ogboghodo ◽

Omokhoa Adeleye ◽

Obehi A Akoria ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Tertiary Hospital ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Scientific Journals ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Individual Healthcare

Abstract Africa was the last continent to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the discourse on Africa's response captured in scientific journals revolves around nations, public health agencies and organizations, but little is documented about how individual healthcare facilities have fared. This article reports the challenges faced in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria, including space constraints, diagnostic challenges, shortages in personal protective equipment and health worker infections. The opportunities and strengths that aided the response are also highlighted. The lessons learned will be useful to similar facilities. More information about health facility response at various levels is needed to comprehensively assess Africa's response to the pandemic.

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