This perspective paper seeks to sharpen some of the ideas that have emerged in research studies over the years and in my book on risk communication as well as to add additional ideas. The most important of these, as clarified in this paper, is the question of how to implement conceptual notions of risk communications so that they do not remain merely at the theoretical level. The paper discusses how government authorities can transform these theoretical notions into risk communication strategies and tactics that can be applied during a global pandemic crisis such as COVID-19 and other epidemiological crises as well. In addition, to the best of our knowledge this paper is the first to make a connection between the inner discourse within organizations and the way in which this discourse affects the strategies these health organizations adopt in communicating information and guidelines to the public. Most studies in the field of management or public relations focus on internal organizational management and discuss the impact of organizational culture on employee output and welfare. They do not discuss communication mechanisms or how these can be adapted to the field of health.
Organizations tend to disregard minority/marginal opinions in their media campaigns, assuming that these may confuse the public. The history of science and the above studies show that organizations should heed marginal opinions and provide a respectful and reasoned response on social media indicating why they decided on opposing policies and guidelines. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic 12,000 scientists and medics signed a petition against the lockdown policy.54 They argued in favor of living life normally despite the virus while safeguarding at-risk population groups. But governments offered no professional response to these claims. Indeed, experts who do not share the majority opinion are not necessarily anti-science.
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Although experts aspire to achieve partnership with the public and despite the understanding that the public is at the center, some still maintain that those who do not follow the guidelines are irrational and motivated by emotions. This dichotomy is incorrect. Studies on decision-making indicate that both experts and the public make decisions based on emotional, intuitive, experiential and rational considerations.61
Throughout the pandemic, the public has sought clear and reliable advice from their governments. An ongoing situation of uncertainty such as the COVID-19 pandemic often leads health organizations to communicate conflicting or scientifically controversial guidelines to the public. Many governments stuttered at the start of the pandemic, and were slow to provide clarity and certainty.109
Indeed, international health authorities have addressed the need for local segmentation in their outbreak communication guidelines and reports. The main questions and concerns the public raises on social media forums during pandemic outbreaks should be identified and analyzed according to the specific profiles of the target audiences that raise these concerns in each country. Accomplishing this presents a special challenge due to the segmentation of the public during a pandemic crisis. Several issues are likely to emerge, such as accounting for the specific language usage (eg, slang) of diverse population groups and accounting for culture-specific reactions and norms of communication between members of particular subgroups.11 2ff7e9595c