Communication in Health Crisis and Emergencies

Despite previous pandemics and reports on pandemic preparedness, many countries still struggle to prevent and manage public health emergencies. A key component of an effective health crisis and emergency response is communication between governments, health professionals, scientists, the media, and the public.

Communication is an integral part of any emergency response. During pandemics and epidemics, effective communication allows people who are most at risk to understand and adopt protective behaviors. People need to know what health risks they face, and what actions they can take to protect their health and lives. It allows authorities and experts to listen to and address people’s concerns and needs so that the advice they provide is relevant, trusted, and acceptable.

Strathmore University Business School, through the Institute of Healthcare Management, was recently awarded a grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to facilitate Leadership, Management, and Governance (LMG) training for the senior leadership of the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and the Ministry of Health (MOH). This training will be carried out across 6 countries – Kenya, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Rwanda, and Cameroon.  The LMG training Programme will be delivered in four modules for each country, over a period of 6 months.

The training, which took place between 12th to 16 September at SBS, served as the first Module for Kenya and aimed to equip the participants with skills to facilitate informed decision making across several policy implementation levels of the health systems. Some of the areas that the training covered included; applied systems thinking, leadership and management and health communications, among others.

Taking the participants through a session on the role of communication as part of health crisis and emergencies response, Dr. Beatrice Njeru, a Faculty member at SBS emphasized the critical role that communication plays during health crises and emergencies. She further gave the participants insights and tips for effective health crises communication.

Public Trust

Gaining high levels of public trust is central to communication during a pandemic. This includes having shared values and confidence that future developments will occur as expected. Community engagement is necessary to identify shared values and to involve communities in the decisions that will affect them, which in turn is more likely to facilitate public cooperation.

To Persuade or to Inform?

Health authorities and others responsible for communicating health information to the public should reflect carefully on the purpose of the information they want to communicate to the public- whether it is intended primarily to persuade people or to inform them. This should include consideration of long-term consequences as well as immediate effects on behavior. For example, authorities who aim to persuade the public and consequently downplay uncertainty about the risk of side effects of a vaccine may increase uptake. However, if side effects are discovered over time, this could undermine trust and people’s willingness to be vaccinated in the future.

Global Communication

The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged a new phase of real-time, peer-to-peer sharing. It is now possible for data concerning diseases and outbreaks to be communicated through multiple communication channels, providing a view of global health that is fundamentally different from that provided by traditional public health organizations. Use of online information is becoming a dominant method for the surveillance of emerging public health threats. Therefore, global communication for future health emergencies requires a novel framework. Additionally, health officials are encouraged to take advantage of the strength of diverse electronic information sources and innovative ways to compile and communicate information.

Media Literacy

Poor health media literacy is particularly common during health crises and emergencies. It is common to witness amplification of unverified information, which further triggers misunderstandings, reactions of fear and a loss of trust, which can inhibit effective responses to a crisis. Proactive public health investment in mechanisms for compiling, verifying, and communicating information is of paramount importance to ensuring effective communication. Additionally, during periods of uncertainty, strategies for communicating evolving information need to be developed and assessed.

Article by Michelle Nthemba

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