Simple messages and coherent policy needed to clear up COVID confusion: experts
Simple, direct messaging from officials is necessary to clear up confusion about shifting public health restrictions amid skyrocketing COVID-19 infections in Canada, experts in health and communications say.
At the same time, officials need to be realistic when conveying the risks posed by the pandemic to ensure residents understand how they need to behave to curb the spread of the virus, they said.
“It seems like the administrations have completely forgotten how to do health communication,” said Jessica Mudry, an associate professor who specializes in public health communication at Ryerson University.
In Ontario in particular, a new colourcoded system for COVID-19 restrictions has been met with skepticism from health experts and has raised questions among residents and businesses trying to figure out what is and isn’t allowed.
Mudry said current messaging has failed to reach people who could change their behaviour but are resistant to doing so, noting that most residents don’t watch press conferences from officials that are held in the middle of the day.
“All of this stuff can be changed,” she said, pointing to engaging graphics used in nutrition and anti-smoking campaigns, and catchy pandemic-themed jingles on the social media platform TikTok as creative tactics that could be employed.
When it comes to balancing the need for restrictions to be taken seriously with messages of optimism, experts said officials need to be honest with residents.
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s top doctor, suggested this week that some regions could be in “the green” zone for pandemic restrictions by Christmas if the situation improves. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also dangled the promise of Christmas gatherings as recently as last week.
Paul Knox, a retired professor of journalism at Ryerson University, said promises about hypothetical scenarios are not going to be effective at this point.
“Any attempt ... to suggest that there are timelines that might offer one option or the other is really futile,” Knox said. “What needs to happen right now, I think, is a very clear message.”
In order for that message to be heard, Knox said, “politicians have to make up their minds” about how to manage the pandemic, even if that means difficult choices and shutting down businesses to save lives.
Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, said fear during the “apocalyptically scary” first wave of COVID-19 in March led to fairly good compliance with public health rules.
After a summer of loosened restrictions that encouraged people to frequent restaurants, bars and malls, Furness said the current return to “stay home” advice has naturally confused people, especially in Ontario where he said the government is trying to support businesses during the pandemic.