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James L, McPhail H, Foisey L, Donelle L, Bauer M, Kothari A. Exploring communication by public health leaders and organizations during the pandemic: a content analysis of COVID-related tweets. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH = REVUE CANADIENNE DE SANTE PUBLIQUE 2023; 114:563-583. [PMID: 37349662 PMCID: PMC10351251 DOI: 10.17269/s41997-023-00783-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Health communication is an essential competency in public health practice. The increasing use of social media and the connectivity between the general public and public health leaders present a unique opportunity to explore how digital communications tools were leveraged in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores Twitter-based communications from public health leaders and organizations across Canada and compares them with those from the World Health Organization (WHO). This research aimed to understand Twitter communications strategies to address the COVID-19 pandemic, other public health emergencies, and non-emergency public health issues. METHODS A content analysis of COVID-related Twitter content during the first wave of the pandemic (January 1-August 31, 2020) was performed. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Policy Intervention Scan was used as a framework to analyze messaging from public health leaders and the WHO. RESULTS Findings demonstrate that most tweets from public health leaders and organizations in Canada and the WHO focused on case management and public information. Gaps and areas of weakness identified include the lack of Twitter participation by some public health leaders and a narrow range of policy intervention topics, limiting the breadth and depth of public health messages. CONCLUSION Strengthening communications can serve to improve information sharing in future pandemics or public health crises. Further research should assess how public health leaders and organizations applied communication best practices on all social media platforms and across different policy interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lesley James
- Lab for Knowledge Translation in Health, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Heather McPhail
- Lab for Knowledge Translation in Health, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Lyndsay Foisey
- Faculty of Information and Media Studies and Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Lorie Donelle
- College of Nursing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Michael Bauer
- Department of Computer Science, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Anita Kothari
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
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Azevedo D, Plácido AI, Herdeiro MT, Roque F, Roque V. How Portuguese Health Entities Used Social Media to Face the Public Health Emergency during COVID-19 Disease. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:11942. [PMID: 36231239 PMCID: PMC9564587 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191911942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media became an important and easily accessible source of information to keep the population informed. In this study, we explored how Portuguese health entities used social media during the public health emergency caused by COVID-19 disease. METHODS A retrospective study on Portuguese public health entities' communication with the public using social media platforms was performed. Data were retrieved from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. All retrieved posts were analyzed, and the engagement of the public was calculated. A thematic analysis of all COVID-19-related posts was conducted. RESULTS The analysis of each social media platform revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, health entities reinforced their presence on social media platforms. The most published posts were related to "epidemiological context" and "encouragement to take actions" to avoid the spread of COVID-19. High engagement frames were not associated with the most frequently published posts. CONCLUSIONS Although health entities have reinforced their presence on social media platforms, they do not take full advantage of these platforms to improve health literacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Azevedo
- Research Unit for Inland Development, Polytechnic of Guarda (UDI-IPG), 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal
| | - Ana Isabel Plácido
- Research Unit for Inland Development, Polytechnic of Guarda (UDI-IPG), 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal
| | - Maria Teresa Herdeiro
- Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Fátima Roque
- Research Unit for Inland Development, Polytechnic of Guarda (UDI-IPG), 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal
- Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior (CICS-UBI), 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal
| | - Vítor Roque
- Research Unit for Inland Development, Polytechnic of Guarda (UDI-IPG), 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal
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DePaula N, Hagen L, Roytman S, Alnahass D. Platform Effects on Public Health Communication: A Comparative and National Study of Message Design and Audience Engagement Across Twitter and Facebook. JMIR INFODEMIOLOGY 2022; 2:e40198. [PMID: 36575712 PMCID: PMC9773105 DOI: 10.2196/40198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 08/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Public health agencies widely adopt social media for health and risk communication. Moreover, different platforms have different affordances, which may impact the quality and nature of the messaging and how the public engages with the content. However, these platform effects are not often compared in studies of health and risk communication and not previously for the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study measures the potential media effects of Twitter and Facebook on public health message design and engagement by comparing message elements and audience engagement in COVID-19-related posts by local, state, and federal public health agencies in the United States during the pandemic, to advance theories of public health messaging on social media and provide recommendations for tailored social media communication strategies. METHODS We retrieved all COVID-19-related posts from major US federal agencies related to health and infectious disease, all major state public health agencies, and selected local public health departments on Twitter and Facebook. A total of 100,785 posts related to COVID-19, from 179 different accounts of 96 agencies, were retrieved for the entire year of 2020. We adopted a framework of social media message elements to analyze the posts across Facebook and Twitter. For manual content analysis, we subsampled 1677 posts. We calculated the prevalence of various message elements across the platforms and assessed the statistical significance of differences. We also calculated and assessed the association between message elements with normalized measures of shares and likes for both Facebook and Twitter. RESULTS Distributions of message elements were largely similar across both sites. However, political figures (P<.001), experts (P=.01), and nonpolitical personalities (P=.01) were significantly more present on Facebook posts compared to Twitter. Infographics (P<.001), surveillance information (P<.001), and certain multimedia elements (eg, hyperlinks, P<.001) were more prevalent on Twitter. In general, Facebook posts received more (normalized) likes (0.19%) and (normalized) shares (0.22%) compared to Twitter likes (0.08%) and shares (0.05%). Elements with greater engagement on Facebook included expressives and collectives, whereas posts related to policy were more engaged with on Twitter. Science information (eg, scientific explanations) comprised 8.5% (73/851) of Facebook and 9.4% (78/826) of Twitter posts. Correctives of misinformation only appeared in 1.2% (11/851) of Facebook and 1.4% (12/826) of Twitter posts. CONCLUSIONS In general, we find a data and policy orientation for Twitter messages and users and a local and personal orientation for Facebook, although also many similarities across platforms. Message elements that impact engagement are similar across platforms but with some notable distinctions. This study provides novel evidence for differences in COVID-19 public health messaging across social media sites, advancing knowledge of public health communication on social media and recommendations for health and risk communication strategies on these online platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nic DePaula
- School of Information Sciences Wayne State University Detroit, MI United States
| | - Loni Hagen
- School of Information University of South Florida Tampa, FL United States
| | - Stiven Roytman
- Department of Radiology University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI United States
| | - Dana Alnahass
- School of Medicine Wayne State University Detroit, MI United States
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Durowaye TD, Rice AR, Konkle ATM, Phillips KP. Public health perinatal promotion during COVID-19 pandemic: a social media analysis. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:895. [PMID: 35513864 PMCID: PMC9069960 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13324-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Canadian public health agencies, both municipal/regional and provincial/territorial, are responsible for promoting population health during pregnancy and the early postnatal period. This study examines how these agencies use web-based and Facebook channels to communicate perinatal health promotion during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Perinatal health promotion content of websites and Facebook posts from a multijurisdictional and geographically diverse sample of government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) were evaluated using thematic content analysis in 2020. Results Major Facebook perinatal health promotion themes included breastfeeding, infant care, labor/delivery, parenting support and healthy pregnancy. Facebook COVID-19-themed perinatal health promotion peaked in the second quarter of 2020. Websites emphasized COVID-19 transmission routes, disease severity and need for infection control during pregnancy/infant care, whereas Facebook posts focussed on changes to local health services including visitor restrictions. NGO perinatal health promotion reflected organizations’ individual mandates. Conclusions Canadian government use of Facebook to disseminate perinatal health promotion during the COVID-19 pandemic varied in terms of breadth of topics and frequency of posts. There were missed opportunities to nuance transmission/severity risks during pregnancy, thereby proactively countering the spread of misinformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toluwanimi D Durowaye
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Alexandra R Rice
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Anne T M Konkle
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.,University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Karen P Phillips
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
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MacKay M, Ford C, Colangeli T, Gillis D, McWhirter JE, Papadopoulos A. A content analysis of Canadian influencer crisis messages on Instagram and the public’s response during COVID-19. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:763. [PMID: 35428287 PMCID: PMC9010933 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13129-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Successful mitigation of emerging infectious disease requires that the public adopt recommended behaviours, which is directly influenced by effective crisis communication. Social media has become an important communication channel during COVID-19 where official actors, influencers, and the public are co-creating crisis messages. Our research examined COVID-19-related crisis messages across Canadian influencer accounts within news media, politicians, public health and government, science communicators, and brand influencer and celebrities, posted on Instagram between December 2019 and March 2021 for Health Belief Model and Extended Parallel Processing Model constructs and the corresponding public comment sentiment and engagement. Thirty-three influencer accounts resulted in a total of 2,642 Instagram posts collected, along with 461,436 comments, which showed overall low use of constructs in both captions and images. Further, most posts used no combinations (n = 0 or 1 construct per post) of constructs in captions and images and very infrequently used captions that combined threat (severity and susceptibility) with cues to action and efficacy. Brand influencers and celebrities, politicians, and science communicators had above average post engagement while public health and government and news media had lower. Finally, most influencers saw the largest proportion of neutral sentiment comments. Crisis messages must be designed to include combinations of constructs that increase message acceptance and influence risk perception and efficacy to increase the adoption of recommended and mandated behaviours.
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Sachini E, Sioumalas- Christodoulou K, Bouras N, Karampekios N. Lessons for science and technology policy? Probing the Linkedin network of an RDI organisation. SN SOCIAL SCIENCES 2022; 2:271. [PMCID: PMC9734916 DOI: 10.1007/s43545-022-00586-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, we seek to examine the network of the Greek National Documentation Centre (EKT) as formed by its LinkedIn followers. By applying specific data collection and processing techniques, we explore the network of all the individuals that follow EKT’s LinkedIn page. Significant manual and automatic approaches have been implemented with regard to data extraction, data curation and data homogenization. The aim is to identify the network’s advancement over time, the institutions involved and the countries. The timeframe of the study spans from when the relevant LinkedIn page was constructed in 2015 to 2020. Findings indicate that there is a steady increase in the number of new followers, peaking in 2020. On an international scale, the evolution of the network of followers is imprinted and distributed in worldwide maps. In total, 68 countries have followed EKT over the examined time period. Also, in terms of followers’ institutional sector the Business Sector (BES) stands out (46.5%). Higher Education (HES) and Government Sector (GOV) are associated with 26.4 and 22.2% of the followers, respectively. Lastly, this paper provides a first institutional and country-level mapping of who constitutes the organisation’s interlocutors in the national and global RDI ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evi Sachini
- grid.22459.380000 0001 2232 6894National Documentation Centre, 48 Vas. Konstantinou Str., 11635 Athens, Greece
| | - Konstantinos Sioumalas- Christodoulou
- grid.22459.380000 0001 2232 6894National Documentation Centre, 48 Vas. Konstantinou Str., 11635 Athens, Greece ,grid.5216.00000 0001 2155 0800Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Nikias Bouras
- grid.22459.380000 0001 2232 6894National Documentation Centre, 48 Vas. Konstantinou Str., 11635 Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Karampekios
- grid.22459.380000 0001 2232 6894National Documentation Centre, 48 Vas. Konstantinou Str., 11635 Athens, Greece
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Lee CT, Kanji R, Wang AH, Mamuji A, Rozdilsky J, Chu T. Cultural contexts during a pandemic: a qualitative description of cultural factors that shape protective behaviours in the Chinese-Canadian community. BMC Public Health 2021; 21:1897. [PMID: 34666726 PMCID: PMC8526107 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-11928-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been significant variations in the level of adoption of public health recommendations across international jurisdictions and between cultural groups. Such variations have contributed to the dissimilar levels of risks associated with this world-changing viral infection and have highlighted the potential role of culture in assigning meaning and importance to personal protective behaviours. The purpose of this study is to describe the cultural factors during the COVID-19 pandemic that shaped protective health behaviours in the Chinese-Canadian community, one of the largest Chinese diasporas outside of Asia. METHODS A qualitative descriptive design was employed. Content analysis was used to analyze the data from semi-structured virtual interviews conducted with 83 adult Chinese-Canadian participants residing in a metropolitan area in the Province of Ontario, Canada. FINDINGS The cultural factors of collectivism, information seeking behaviour, symbolism of masks, and previous experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged as themes driving the early adoption of personal protective behaviours within the Chinese-Canadian community during the first wave of COVID-19. These protective behaviours that emerged prior to the first nation-wide lockdown in Canada included physical distancing, mask use, and self-quarantine beyond what was required at the time. CONCLUSION These findings have implications for the development of future public health interventions and campaigns targeting personal protective behaviours in this population and other ethnic minority populations with similar characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte T Lee
- Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B-2K3, Canada.
| | - Rahim Kanji
- Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B-2K3, Canada
| | - Angel H Wang
- Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B-2K3, Canada
| | - Aaida Mamuji
- Department of Disaster & Emergency Management, School of Administrative Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jack Rozdilsky
- Department of Disaster & Emergency Management, School of Administrative Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Terri Chu
- Department of Communication Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada
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