377 Secrets to effective COVID communications

on a steaming hot day this past august

a colleague of mine posted this image in

a groove chat

asking does anyone know why these eggs i

bought look cloudy

some of us suspected the eggs might have

gone bad

then came the light bulb moment it

turned out he had tried to disinfect

all groceries by baking all of them

under the sun for hours

and the atlanta summer heat had

effectively cooked the eggs

while his intense protective measures

may be questionable

this got me thinking why do people do

what they do

in the pandemic and how can we find the

right message

to influence those around us in this

talk

i’d like to share with you how we can

begin nudging people

towards the desired behavior change with

just

two key steps a minimum viable

message and effective delivery

you may have heard of a minimum viable

product or

mvp in software development

a minimum viable product is one that is

just good enough

to be usable a minimum viable message

is similar while no communication can

guarantee

a desired behavior change we need a

message

just good enough for the time being to

begin

moving the needle and to find the

minimum

viable message we will need to answer

three key questions

what do we want the people to know

how do we want them to feel

and what do we need them to do

when crafted properly this message will

help people

take the pandemic seriously feel

empowered to act and know exactly what

to do

and why first and foremost we need

people to take the pandemic seriously

in other words we must communicate

covet as a universal threat the

perceived threat of a public health

crisis

is determined by two factors it’s

perceived

susceptibility and severity

for example you may be highly

susceptible to poland allergy in spring

but the symptoms likely won’t be

life-threatening

on the other hand you’re extremely

unlikely to be struck by lightning

but if you did the severity of the

strike

will most likely lead to death

some people have what psychologists

refer to as optimism

bias where they think they themselves

are less likely to experience an active

event

how can we help these people to see the

threat of covet

and begin moving them up the chart

well to those who think that they’re

just meeting with their close social

circles

in holiday gathering help them

understand

that they are in fact exposing

themselves to

much bigger risk that are unseen to

those who think that

they’re healthy and they’ll just have

flu symptoms

help them understand that covet had

killed

more people in the u.s than flu did

in the last five years combined but

nothing speaks more to the threat of

kovit when it truly hits home

this past march i was shocked to learn

about the covet diagnosis

of las vega a world-renowned

mountaineer and an alum of my alma mater

agnes scott college speaking of being

healthy

this is her after reaching the top of

mount everest

a few years ago yet this was how she

described

her experience with covet i was barely

breathing

i felt like someone put a vacuum cleaner

inside my mouth

and was sucking all the wind and life

force out of me

phosphia had since recovered and is back

being a warrior

but next time when you see someone who

dismisses covet threat

share the facts the numbers and the

personal account

of your experience to help them take the

pandemic

more seriously

now that we’ve communicated the threat

of covid

we must also empower people to act

good health communication will always

have a fear element

such as this one from dr awadi before

thanksgiving

better to have a zoom thanksgiving than

an icu christmas

however when the fear message goes too

far

instead of feeling mobilized people feel

doomed to empower others to act

we must first increase their perceived

control

of the pandemic in early phase of the

pandemic

people were inundated with

misinformation

about the virus causing the world health

organization

to label such phenomenon as an info

damic

within a pandemic to counter

misinformation

the who ran a series of mythbusters

to address common myths adding pepper to

your soup may help with the taste

but it certainly doesn’t help with coved

and never

ever drink bleach sometimes

people spread rumors in search for an

explanation

and a solution ultimately helping them

to feel more in control

of the situation therefore

leaders must help bring clarity in this

time

by sharing what actions are being taken

to control the pandemic

be careful this is not to promise we

have the situation

under control rather highlight actions

being taken

explain decision making process and set

realistic expectations here is an

example of new zealand prime minister

justin arden

introducing the country’s alert system

there are four levels to the alert

system

at each level there are things we need

you to do

to keep you safe and there are things

the government will do

too and alert level four this is where

we have sustained transmission

this is where we eliminate contact with

each other all together

we keep essential services going but we

ask everyone to stay at home

until covert 19 is back under control

it’s important to note that with every

level

supermarkets and essential services like

access to pharmaceuticals

will continue shop normally

if we do that our supermarkets will have

time

to restock their shelves wow i feel so

reassured and informed just after one

minute

frequent and transparent communications

demonstrates competent

leadership and restores public trust

at times of crisis it also

increases the public’s perceived control

of the pandemic

and ultimately motivates them to take

action

after reassuring the public and

empowering them to act

we must also provide clear guidance on

what to do

and why some pandemic communication

didn’t work as well

because it was too complicated take a

look at this example

if you look close enough at this

decision tree

you’ll notice that all it says is to

wear a mask

in public in fact the instructions

should be so

clear that the question of whether

you’ve abided by the instruction

can be answered by a simple yes or no

consider these two messages stay home

versus stay alert the first one

is very clear whereas the second one

leaves you wonder

what do i need to do to stay alert

good health communications not only

explain and

translate complex science into easy to

digest

information for the public but also

explains the why behind the action

or its perceived benefits here’s how

johns hopkins school of public health

explained the benefits of lockdown

starting by

explaining the purpose of locking down

followed by successful examples from

other countries and finishing with risk

of opening prematurely

analogies can also be very helpful in

visualizing

a complex concept especially amongst

populations with lower health literacy

the swiss cheese metaphor for example is

perfect example of encouraging people

to take multiple preventive measures

you cannot reduce your risk of infection

to zero

by wearing a mask or washing your hands

a lot or staying six feet away from

others

think of each of them though as a slice

of swiss

cheese they’re not perfect they’ve got

holes

but slices of swiss cheese have holes in

different spots

and as you stack them the holes become

covered

it’s the same with these layers wearing

a mask washing your hands social

distancing

as you stack up the layers the more

complete

the protection becomes it’s important

that we remind the public

to stay open-minded and be flexible

since the beginning of the pandemic

research findings have been published at

unprecedented rate as we know more about

the virus

and it’s critical we adjust the guidance

quickly

to reflect the latest evidence once you

have your

minimum viable message created it should

also

be delivered effectively and the rule of

7 can help the minimum viable message

must be delivered

7 times seven different ways

communities school campuses dining

venues

should consider promoting covet policies

repeatedly

through yard signs and posters creating

strong

and consistent impression to those

entering the space

governments and policy makers should

drive transparency by sharing latest

covet information promptly consider

conducting

daily even twice a day media briefings

and update the online database

frequently

to allow on-demand access this helps the

government

to establish a consistent communication

cadence

in fact in case you missed this new york

governor andrew

cuomo received an emmy award yes

an emmy for his 111

daily covet briefings where according to

the committee

he had effectively created television

show

with characters plot lines and stories

of success

and failure repetition alone however

is not enough the message must also be

communicated

in different forms via different

channels

and this starts with knowing your

audience

once you determine the audience there

are numerous ways to get creative with

the message

for example you can consider using humor

how do

you have a fret party during covid i was

genuinely curious

to my disappointment the answer was

quite simple

some sports found themselves in sweet

spot

in this pandemic you can also consider

using visual cues

like this example for social distancing

are these for mask wearing including one

right here

indicator some countries even created

songs for hand washing and in fact

turned them into tick-tock

dance challenge

[Music]

notice how a good communication not only

spreads

organically on social media but can be

further promoted by celebrities

to reach a wider audience which points

to the importance of a good

messenger for example w.h.o partnered

with fifa

so you have messi telling you to avoid

touching your face

across face communities religious

leaders are uniquely positioned

to raise awareness about the virus

promote

safety measures and bring people

together

under the universal value of shared

humanity

when china built the makeshift hospitals

it live streamed the entire process

and attracted over 44 million viewers to

watch

at the same time those who got stuck

at home resorted to the live streaming

to not only

see the response in action but also

found a sense of ownership

in this response in fact viewers

even came up with nicknames for the

machineries on site

you got mr forkey forgetful blue

which appears to be confused sometimes

and the blend bro

which is a concrete mixer and finally

the message must also be delivered with

compassion

as u.n general assembly president bande

called out

we must remember that the threat and

enemy

is the virus not the people

or countries or their religion in

summary

if you remember nothing from this talk i

hope you take away this

to begin moving the needles and nudge

people toward behavior change

we should have a minimum viable message

that explains what we want people

to know feel and do and the message

should be delivered

seven times seven different ways as we

continue to battle this pandemic and

future public health crises

i invite you to do two things

to help pull back the misinformation

and push forward new norms help

flatten the info dynamic curve stop a

rumor from reaching a group chat

double check the facts and check the

news sources

and be an influencer to promote credible

health information

in your social circle also push forward

the new norms to those in doubt remind

them

that their decision to wear a mask today

could have enormous ripple effect

and the lives they are saving could be

their own to those frustrated

for not being able to go back to normal

help them

understand that in this crisis no one is

safe

until everyone is safe and as dr anthony

fauci repeatedly stressed

public health measures are the vehicles

to reopening our economy

not obstacles

don’t worsen the problem become

part of the solution

and finally i’ll leave you with this

challenge

when the vaccines are ready for the

world what would you say

to get the people ready

thank you

you