scholarly journals 28.I. Workshop: Communication in public health: neglected but essential

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Common View ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Communication Modalities ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The realization that not only research but also effective communication is essential to promoting and protecting the health of the public was a fundamental milestone in the emerging discipline of public health communication. Although we are beginning to talk more and more about health communication, it is, in the common view, still too often identified as a soft skill of the individual professional, and therefore as a minor competence in public health. Fortunately, many of today's public health leaders realize that promoting health and protecting the public require effective public health communication - as emerged clearly during EUPHA2019 conference in Marseille. The essential components of the communication process (channel, source, receiver, and message) are dynamic and change continuously in public health: emergencies follow one another rapidly, and communication channels evolve very quickly in the digital era. The impact, trust, and authority of traditional media are in decline. People are also willing to actively participate and share their views and information, including on health issues, through social networks. This explains the emergence of the new social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok) as a central space for communicating and re-connecting with the public. Websites were mentioned as widely used to convey health messages, like ongoing health campaigns addressed to different groups (e.g. campaign on seasonal influenza vaccination) or during crisis communication (e.g. absolutely up to date is the example of coronavirus disease 2019). This workshop aims to explore the importance of appropriate communication by analysing practical examples of the diversity of communication modalities, language, target audiences and objectives. Furthermore, public health communication, to be effective, requires an integrated approach to engage the relevant stakeholders such as research institutes, health professionals, partner organisations (e.g. private institutions), policymakers, associations (e.g. population representatives, patients' associations, CSOs/NGOs, citizens associations protecting the poor) and individuals. The use of health communication principles is fundamental at all levels, from government organizations and agencies at central and sub-national level to individuals and citizens: public health experts need to advocate policymakers and all stakeholders, who interact with each other determine the health system and its governance and are involved in the decision-making process, to empower the population, that never more than now require to be the principal actor in their own health decision. Key messages Public health communication is an essential component of any effective public health strategy and initiative, yet it is often neglected and under-resourced. Communication in public health is multifaceted: it is required in a diverse range of scenarios; it may target different population groups and engage various institutions and experts.

scholarly journals Public Health Communication in France during the Spanish Flu and the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Experts

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Klara Dankova
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Technical Expertise ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Spanish Flu ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The Impact

In times of crisis, a government’s communication with the public is fundamental, as one of the government’s main tasks is to provide critical information to protect the population. In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health communication has been paramount because of the elevated risk of contagion. Moreover, in public health communication, experts play a pivotal role by providing reliable information on the basis of their technical expertise. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is often compared to that of the Spanish flu, a pandemic occurring in 1918-1919, whose global spread decimated tens of millions of people. This contribution aims to assess the role of experts in the two crises by highlighting the differences in France’s public health communication during the two events. Assuming that the objectives of public health communication during the two pandemics were more or less identical, i.e. to prevent the spread of disease and inform and protect the public, the paper inquires about the means used to achieve them, focusing on the contribution of experts. The main characteristics of public health communication during the Spanish flu will be investigated by analysing articles published in the period between 1918 and 1919 in two French newspapers Le Matin and Le Petit Parisien. In terms of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this paper will probe articles published since December 2019 in the newspaper Le Monde.

scholarly journals The Use of 'No Evidence' Statements in Public Health

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public

Public health communication makes extensive use of a linguistic formulation that will be called the “no evidence” statement. This is a written or spoken statement of the form “There is no evidence that P” where P stands for a proposition that typically describes a human health risk. Danger lurks in these expressions for the hearer or reader who is not logically perspicacious, as arguments that use them are only warranted under certain conditions. The extent to which members of the public are able to determine what those conditions are will be considered by examining data obtained from 879 subjects. The role of “no evidence” statements as cognitive heuristics in public health reasoning is considered.

scholarly journals The influence of risk perceptions on close contact frequency during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Wambua ◽  
Lisa Hermans ◽  
Pietro Coletti ◽  
Frederik Verelst ◽  
Lander Willem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Perceived Severity ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Contact Behaviour ◽  
Contact Frequency ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Human behaviour is known to be crucial in the propagation of infectious diseases through respiratory or close-contact routes like the current SARS-CoV-2 virus. Intervention measures implemented to curb the spread of the virus mainly aim at limiting the number of close contacts, until vaccine roll-out is complete. Our main objective was to assess the relationships between SARS-CoV-2 perceptions and social contact behaviour in Belgium. Understanding these relationships is crucial to maximize interventions' effectiveness, e.g. by tailoring public health communication campaigns. In this study, we surveyed a representative sample of adults in Belgium in two longitudinal surveys (8 waves of survey 1 in April 2020 to August 2020, and 11 waves of survey 2 in November 2020 to April 2021). Generalized linear mixed effects models were used to analyse the two surveys. Participants with low and neutral perceptions on perceived severity made a significantly higher number of social contacts as compared to participants with high levels of perceived severity after controlling for other variables. Furthermore, participants with higher levels of perceived effectiveness of measures and perceived adherence to measures made fewer contacts. However, the differences were small. Our results highlight the key role of perceived severity on social contact behaviour during a pandemic. Nevertheless, additional research is required to investigate the impact of public health communication on severity of COVID-19 in terms of changes in social contact behaviour.

scholarly journals Spreading (Dis)Trust: Covid-19 Misinformation and Government Intervention in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lovari
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
General State ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Impact

The commentary focuses on the spread of Covid-19 misinformation in Italy, highlighting the dynamics that have impacted on its pandemic communication. Italy has recently been affected by a progressive erosion of trust in public institutions and a general state of information crisis regarding matters of health and science. In this context, the politicization of health issues and a growing use of social media to confront the Coronavirus “infodemic” have led the Italian Ministry of Health to play a strategic role in using its official Facebook page to mitigate the spread of misinformation and to offer updates to online publics. Despite this prompt intervention, which increased the visibility and reliability of public health communication, coordinated efforts involving different institutions, media and digital platform companies still seem necessary to reduce the impact of misinformation, as using a multichannel strategy helps avoid increasing social and technological disparities at a time of crisis.

scholarly journals Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Hughes ◽  
C. Miller-Idriss ◽  
R. Piltch-Loeb ◽  
K. White ◽  
M. Creizis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Pandemic Vaccine ◽  
Qualitative Coding ◽  
Health Messaging

AbstractVaccine hesitancy (delay in obtaining a vaccine, despite availability) represents a significant hurdle to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is in part related to the prevalence of anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation, which are spread through social media and user-generated content platforms. This study uses qualitative coding methodology to identify salient narratives and rhetorical styles common to anti-vaccine and COVID-denialist media. It organizes these narratives and rhetorics according to theme, imagined antagonist, and frequency. Most frequent were narratives centered on “corrupt elites” and rhetorics appealing to the vulnerability of children. The identification of these narratives and rhetorics may assist in developing effective public health messaging campaigns, since narrative and emotion have demonstrated persuasive effectiveness in other public health communication settings.

scholarly journals Evaluations of Self-Focused Versus Other-Focused Arguments for Social Distancing: An Extension of Moral Matching Effects

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062094785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Luttrell ◽  
Richard E. Petty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Moral Issue ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
Effective Public Health

The coronavirus pandemic has raised pressing questions about effective public health communication. Prior research has shown a persuasive advantage of arguments emphasizing a behavior’s benefits for others’ health compared to benefits for the recipients. We suggest that other-focused (vs. self-focused) messages function more as moral arguments and should thus be especially persuasive to people who moralize public health. Across three studies, people perceived other-focused (vs. self-focused) appeals for social distancing more as moral arguments. Further, evaluations of these messages’ persuasiveness were moderated by how much the recipient already moralized public health. Other-focused arguments tended to be perceived as more persuasive than self-focused arguments primarily among people who saw public health as a moral issue, which had corresponding effects on social distancing intentions. These findings provide critical insight to health communicators and underscore the importance of understanding that a message’s impact can depend on audience characteristics.

Redefining Medicine’s Relationship with the Media in the Era of COVID-19 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew David Carlo ◽  
Brian S. Barnett ◽  
Utibe R. Essien ◽  
Sandro Galea
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Interaction ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Channels ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Field ◽  
And Training

UNSTRUCTURED In recent months, there has been a substantial focus on the spread of mis- and disinformation through the media, but there has been little mention of the public health consequences of media overconsumption and data misinterpretation. Physicians and other health professionals have an important voice and the medical field can do more to mitigate the impact of unhealthy media interaction on public health communication in the Information Age. Doing this requires a coordinated, deliberate effort. Clinicians, researchers and medical thought leaders must be cognizant of how their data and words can be rapidly shared, internalized and possibly misinterpreted through media channels. Further, medicine needs to have clear standards or guidelines for interacting with the media during public health crises, much like the mental health field has established for completed suicides of public figures. Finally, medical schools, residencies and training programs should devise clear plans to train the upcoming generation for the inevitable next pandemic or disaster.

scholarly journals Evaluations of Self-Focused versus Other-Focused Arguments for Social Distancing: An Extension of Moral Matching Effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Luttrell ◽  
Richard Petty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Moral Issue ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
Effective Public Health

The coronavirus pandemic has raised pressing questions about effective public health communication. Prior research has shown a persuasive advantage of arguments emphasizing a behavior’s benefits for others’ health, compared to benefits for the recipients. We suggest that other-focused (vs. self-focused) messages function more as moral arguments and should thus be especially persuasive to people who moralize public health. Across three studies, people perceived other-focused (vs. self-focused) appeals for social distancing more as moral arguments. Further, evaluations of these messages’ persuasiveness were moderated by how much the recipient already moralized public health. Other-focused arguments tended to be perceived as more persuasive than self-focused arguments primarily among people who saw public health as a moral issue, which had corresponding effects on social distancing intentions. These findings provide critical insight to health communicators and underscore the importance of understanding that a message’s impact can depend on audience characteristics.

scholarly journals “Colonial Virus”: COVID-19, creative arts and public health communication in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (4s) ◽  
pp. 86-96
Author(s):  
Ama De-Graft Aikins ◽  
Bernard Akoi-Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Health Systems Strengthening ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Creative Arts ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Arts And Health ◽  
Art Forms

Since March 2020, Ghana’s creative arts communities have tracked the complex facets of the COVID-19 pandemic through various art forms. This paper reports a study that analysed selected ‘COVID art forms’ through arts and health and critical health psychology frameworks. Art forms produced between March and July 2020, and available in the public sphere - traditional media, social media and public spaces - were collated. The data consisted of comedy, cartoons, songs, murals and textile designs. Three key functions emerged from analysis: health promotion (comedy, cartoons, songs); disease prevention (masks); and improving the aesthetics of the healthcare environment (murals). Textile designs performed broader socio-cultural functions of memorialising and political advocacy. Similar to earlier HIV/AIDS and Ebola arts interventions in other African countries, these Ghanaian COVID art forms translated public health information on COVID-19 in ways that connected emotionally, created social awareness and improved public understanding. However, some art forms had limitations: for example, songs that edutained using fear-based strategies or promoting conspiracy theories on the origins and treatment of COVID-19, and state-sponsored visual art that representedpublic health messaging decoupled from socio-economic barriers to health protection. These were likely to undermine the public health communication goals of behaviour modification. We outline concrete approaches to incorporate creative arts into COVID-19 public health interventions and post-pandemic health systems strengthening in Ghana.

scholarly journals Ensuring Effective Public Health Communication: Insights and Modeling Efforts From Theories of Behavioral Economics, Heuristics, and Behavioral Analysis for Decision Making Under Risk

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren J. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Decision Making Under Risk ◽  
Behavioral Economic ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Effective Public Health

Public health (PH) messaging can have an enormous impact on shaping how individuals within society behave, and can ensure it is in a safe and responsible way, consistent with up-to-date evidence-based PH guidelines. If done effectively, messaging can save lives and improve the health of those within society. However, unfortunately, those within Government PH bodies typically have little training about how to effectively represent PH messages in a way that is consistent with psychological theories of cognitive bias, in order to avoid cognitively biasing the public through their messages. As a result of this, inadequate representation of PH messages can result, which can often lead to cognitive bias in those from the public who read or listen to the message information. This can lead to poor decision making of the pubic as a whole, which can then further lead to harm and even death of public members as a result of these poor decisions. One way to minimize the problem of bias in decision making is to explore psychology theories that model how bias can occur from PH messaging, and identify ways in which PH agencies can utilize such approaches to improve the effectiveness of their messages. Previous focus has been largely on behavioral economic theories, however, here, other accounts are offered in addition to these. These include theories of heuristics and theories from the behavior analysis domain, which may increase the predictive power of modeling bias, and have applications for how best to represent PH message information which minimize bias.

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