Public Health Messaging during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons from Communication Science

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that effective public health messaging is an indispensable component of a robust pandemic response system. In this article, we review decades of research from the interdisciplinary field of communication science and provide evidence-based recommendations for COVID-19 public health messaging. We take a principled approach by systematically examining the communication process, focusing on decisions about what to say in a message (i.e., message content) and how to say it (i.e., message executions), and how these decisions impact message persuasiveness. Following a synthesis of each major line of literature, we discuss how science-based principles of message design can be used in COVID-19 public health messaging. Additionally, we identify emerging challenges for public health messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss possible remedies. We conclude that communication science offers promising public health messaging strategies for combatting COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Cite this

Xiaoli Nan, Irina Alexandra Iles, Bo Kyum Yang, Zexin Ma (2021). Public Health Messaging during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons from Communication Science. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1994910

@article{xiaoli2021public,
  title  = {Public Health Messaging during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons from Communication Science},
  author = {Nan, Xiaoli and Iles, Irina Alexandra and Yang, Bo Kyum and Ma, Zexin},
  year   = {2021},
  journal = {Health Communication},
  doi    = {10.1080/10410236.2021.1994910}
}

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