COVID-1 9 Communications:
Special Tools Help Contain a Virus By Martine Pollard
T
he cliché “building the plane as we fly it” doesn’t begin to describe the intensity health care professionals, including health care communicators, faced as COVID-19 began its race across the U.S. It would be more accurate to say that we built the plane while flying upside down over mountains through high winds and storms. But we’re still flying. We know that at some point we’ll attempt to safely land the plane right-side-up on a short runway, but that landing site is still far away and its exact location unknown. When it’s important to influence personal decision-making and encourage clear thinking, effective communication like our plane metaphor is a powerful tool. During a public emergency like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, clear communication that captures attention does more than influence: It’s a tool that saves lives.
MESSAGING COUNTS
Do you remember Smokey the Bear and his admonition, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” or McGruff, the Crime Dog, reminding us that we can “Take a Bite Out of Crime?” Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and PSA 10 SPRING 2021 | ARKANSAS HOSPITALS
campaigns like these are communication tools that work for the public good. They create awareness, show an issue’s importance, convey vital information, and create a forum for engagement – all with the purpose of impacting social change. They provide effective information in the public interest, and they’re distributed across a variety of media outlets without charge. COVID-19’s appearance sparked hundreds of PSAs in the U.S. and around the world. Wear Your Mask, Keep Six Feet of Separation, Wash Your Hands … we continue to see and hear these messages no matter where our devices are tuned. As we learn more about the virus (and the public behavior necessary to contain it), new PSAs frequently pop up. They’re foundational tools used by today’s communicators to influence public behavior. Hospitals and health care systems know that strategic communication planning is indispensable, especially in times of crisis. Today, the public relies on social media, TV, radio, and the internet to get health and virus containment information. Communicating clearly across these many venues is challenging. As a nation, we’re addressing COVID-19 needs on the fly, and health care messaging matters.
