Public Engagement as the Fifth Dimension of Outbreak Communication: Public's Perceptions of Public Health Communication during COVID-19 in India

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the social sphere and lessons for crisis management: a literature review

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most difficult challenge that has affected humanity in recent decades. It has disrupted many features of development with domino effects in the social sphere. This study reviews the literature on the social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the affected social areas that have undergone dramatic changes during the pandemic. We use inductive content analysis and thematic analysis to review the literature. The results show that there are seven major areas that have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: health, social vulnerability, education, social capital, social relationships, social mobility, and social welfare. The literature has reported dramatic psychological and emotional effects, exacerbation of segregation and poverty, disruption in educational systems and formation of an information gap, as well as a declining trends of social capital among communities. We highlight some lessons that can be learned from the pandemic to enhance social resilience in future. Among others, to effectively respond to the pandemic and other potential future adverse events, governments should adopt fair policies, identify the required changes in the socially affected contexts and take necessary responsive actions, and adopt collaboratively designed approaches to increase social resilience.

Process and components of disaster risk communication in health systems: A thematic analysis

Risk communication (RC) is one of the necessary functions in disaster management. Establishing communication processes such as planning, transparency of policies and guidelines, RC expert training, providing communication infrastructure and evaluation in the shortest period reduces confusion and management inconsistency. One of the existing challenges is not knowing the exact dimensions of risk communication and its components in disasters. The aim was to identify the components of disaster risk communication in the health system. This research was conducted by systematic review and searching of the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Google Scholar and ScienceOpen 2000-2021 to identify the components of disaster risk communication in the health system. Thematic content analysis was used for data analysis. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 chart was used for systematic search, and a modified Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) was used for quality determination. Out of 12 342 articles extracted, 25 studies were included for analysis. The components of disaster risk communication were analysed in 6 categories and 19 subcategories. These categories include communication (communication processes, communication features and infrastructure), information (content production, content characteristics and publishing), risk communication management (risk perception assessment, planning, coordination and logistics), monitoring and control (monitoring and evaluation, accreditation, documentation), education and training (public and organisational) and ethics and values (culture and social beliefs, ethics and trust). According to this research, the establishment of communication infrastructure and advanced equipment such as various structured formats for communication and artificial intelligence; online and offline communication support systems; and timely and accurate notice can help achieve goals such as coordination and organisation in the health system and increase social participation.

Contribution

This study has clarified and explained all the main components and measures of risk communication that can be used for planning scientifically.