Coronavirus: How we communicate matters

During an emergency, the worst thing to say to anyone on the receiving end is “Relax! Do not panic!” The person will most likely panic and start behaving in the exact manner you hoped they would not.

This is a normal reaction in abnormal circumstances, and knowing this, we must develop communication strategies that avoid this error.

In emergencies, there is the imperative to ensure that people follow instructions in order to minimise harm to themselves and others.

This is particularly so in the event of a public health emergency such as the one we are now facing with Covid-19.

PHYSICAL DISTANCING

We all want to limit the risk of infection by ensuring that people practise physical distancing — some are calling it social distancing, but this would imply cutting off all social contact when, in fact, we can maintain it by other means — and those that have been to high-risk areas keep to themselves for the mandatory incubation period, 14 days in this case.

However, coming out with a megaphone and shouting these things at people rarely works. Even worse, issuing threats, such as of imprisonment for those who break quarantine restrictions, only encourages potential offenders to think about how they can go around these rules.

My advice to policymakers is to find ways of facilitating the populace to obey regulations by building solidarity, rather than by use of threats.

It is natural for government officials to feel frustrated when a section of the population does not trust them and chooses to disobey guidelines and orders for their own health and safety.

The temptation to bring out the big stick is ever-present, but authorities must be forewarned that this approach has multiple unpredictable outcomes, a majority of which are catastrophic to the social fabric and to public health.

We must acknowledge that any society will have the entire range of human beings, with their peculiarities and quirks, and we must make regulations that cut across and attempt to address the needs of all.

PANDEMIC
So in these times of Covid-19, and the expectation is that this will probably not be the last pandemic in our lifetime, we must begin to consciously change the way we communicate risk and interventions.

Duty-bearers must begin their communication with the end in mind. What do you want to achieve? What is the best way of achieving it under the circumstances? Is the communication strategy we are adopting geared towards achieving that end?

If these questions are carefully considered every time we are planning to go out and communicate to the public, our messaging would be clear and comprehensible to the majority of our people. And we would have less trouble convincing them to adhere to measures that are meant to protect them and others.
It is not too late for us to change our method of engaging the people in this matter. Without the support and cooperation of the population it will be impossible to control the spread of the virus.
At the end of the day, our communication goals are to contain this pandemic by building social solidarity through timely and accurate information on the situation so far, correcting misinformation, allaying undue anxieties and communicating safety and efficacy, while giving guidance as needed.

The writer is associate professor of psychiatry at Moi University School of Medicine; [email protected]