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Communication During The COVID-19 Pandemic Being Seen As Flawed And Ineffective

“The most consistently botched part of the US pandemic response” is how one commentator evaluated the public health efforts at communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other commentators have been even harsher in their criticisms by accusing public officials of making bad decisions and even lying or being deceitful about what they were saying.

Some Failures Recognized

Concern about communication has existed for some time. The National Academies undertook a review of communications during the COVID health crisis last year and made several recommendations last month. And the CDC Director told the Wall Street Journal that the “pandemic threw curveballs that she should have anticipated” and that she should have made it clearer to the public that guidance was subject to change as we  learned more about SARS-CoV-2.

Serious Communication Challenges

Whatever the final verdict rendered about the public communication aspects of the US pandemic response, many of the critics and reviewers have made clear that the challenges were daunting. The list of some of these challenges is impressive and includes 1) the speed at which the pandemic was evolving, 2) the difficulty of coordination during a transition in presidential administrations, 3) the difficulties of coordination between independent agencies, 4) the varying populations affected by the pandemic, 5) the complexities of the science to be communicated to an unprepared public, 6) the overly paternalistic mindset of some in the leadership, 7) the lack of forthrightness about why recommendations were being made, 8) the polarization among the American people to begin with, 9) the overemphasis on “following the science” when not all decisions could or should be made on that basis alone, 10) the numerous sources of information made possible by social media, and 11) relatedly, the prevalence of competing misinformation and disinformation.

Insights and Recommendations

These challenges were manifested on several fronts during the pandemic such as communication failures around masks and masking, booster doses,  isolation measures, and about the use of testing.

Some of the recommendations derived from the work of the National Academies group are:

·    ♦ Messaging needs to be relatable, plain, and honest. The public health sector must increasingly shift toward the practice of “radical transparency” by telling people what is known, what is not known, and why.
 

      ♦ Public health experts should focus on listening and nonjudgmentally providing information to people responding to genuine questions and needs, focusing on education and knowledge before behavior change.
 

    ♦ Communications should be adapted at the individual and community levels and take into account how centrally developed communications methods can be rooted in patriarchy, colonial oppression, and structural racism. Without this understanding, communications cannot be appropriately adapted to local contexts, and therefore may be rejected by many communities.

     ♦  The creation of revitalized convening and coordinating bodies which are already performing these functions

The Academies group also shared their perspective on countering misinformation and disinformation. (see related story in this issue).

To read the National Academies report, visit :
 

https://bit.ly/3fUDBBC  ■

 

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