Communicating Messages for Public Health Emergencies

Keywords: health awareness, emergency preparedness, crisis communication, social media, strategic communication

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Public relations is more than dealing with businesses, organizations, celebrities and politicians. Public relations professionals also deal with public health crises and emergency preparedness. A public relations article says, “During a public health crisis, public health agencies engage in a variety of public communication efforts to inform the population, encourage the adoption of preventive behaviors, and limit the impact of adverse events” (Savoia et al, 2013). Communicating with the public during a public health emergency is crucial to maintaining the narrative and reducing panic.

Social Media and Abstinence-Plus Education

Image from Factnotfiction.com

Adolescent childbearing in the United States ranks the highest above all comparable nations. Many under-resourced states, like Mississippi, have experienced 42.6 births per 1,000 teenage girls, making them the third highest adolescent childbearing state in the country. Before House Bill 999, Mississippi public school districts were not required to provide sex ed. However, in 2012, Mississippi public schools took the initiative to create ‘FactNotFiction’ as a way to provide comprehensive sex education to Mississippi teens and parents.

‘FactNotFiction’ campaign covers topics such as pregnancy prevention, HIV/STI prevention, contraception, healthy relationships and proper teen/parent communication. The campaign was promoted on both traditional media and social media channels. As the program's intent was positive, there were a few challenges that arose: structure, design and content.

The campaign website was created for desktop access and lacked a mobile-enabled version. This prohibited many visitors from accessing the website. Another challenge that was faced was the fixed content rather than dynamic generated content. However, many visitors were attracted to the ‘FactNotFiction’ Facebook page instead.

The article acknowledges the weak points and says, “Although innovative efforts to harness social media to optimize sexual and reproductive health outreach to large numbers of youth are vitally needed, considerable knowledgeable gaps remain on how to design and launch effective youth-oriented sexual health and risk-reduction sites” (Ragsdale et al, 2015). Social media can be a great resource to communicate and educate, but must remain honest, transparent, credible, authentic and proactive.  

Social Media Defeats Social Norms

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In 2016, Floyd Against Drugs (FAD) was consulted to create and implement a ‘positive social norms’ campaign to understand attitudes towards teen drinking. The #WhatIDidInstead campaign was aimed at reducing underage drinking by encouraging alternative behaviors. The campaign created both traditional media and social media components by using teenage representatives.

The objectives of the campaign were to determine the most effective methods and messages of social norms. The strategies, communication and collaboration allowed for holistic key metrics. The execution was focused on media outlets, messaging, community involvement/engagement, storytelling and monitoring.

By conducting focus groups, student testimonials, scheduled content, monitoring social media platforms and measuring KPI, the information found was used to launch another campaign, #ItsNotJustAFAD.

The article says. “In this way, the CMS team overcame territoriality and disjointed marketing communication to become one of the very few organizations to successfully link communications output with behavioral outcomes and meaningful business results” (Field-Springer, n.d.). This campaign introduced a new way to discourage social norms through positive storytelling, authenticity, engagement and peer influence.

Preparing for the Worst

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The annual U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) social media campaign in 2011 prepared both Americans and CDC communicators. A zombie apocalypse was a fictional public health campaign to educate the public on the importance of emergency preparedness and to help prepare Americans for natural disasters and emergencies.

The objectives of raising awareness of preparing for emergencies and engaging teens and young adults call for ‘humorous messaging of credible information’. This unique idea sparked conversation over social media, conventions, news channels, within classrooms and much more. As there was more engagement than anticipated, the CDC used this opportunity to encourage, educate and inform. From gaining more views than ever on social media, the CDC found a way to attract a new audience.

Despite the success, the article says, “…it is unclear whether the attention it garnered translated into motivation to prepare for emergencies, knowledge of what to do, and intent to take action” (Kruvand & Silver, 2013). The CDC turned a unique but risky idea into one of the most memorable social media campaigns.

Perception of Deception

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Breast augmentation surgery was the most popular cosmetic surgery in 2011. Regardless of the FDA ban, women still received implants, despite them being silicone or saline. In 1992, the FDA imposed a halt on selling and using silicone implants from the popular manufacturer, Dow Corning. They complied with the investigation but claimed the implants were harmless.

Dow Corning spokespersons were arguing that claims made by women were on an ‘emotional plane’ as most recipients got implants for emotional and cosmetic reasons, resulting in no actual harm. Dow Corning also set up an ‘implant information hotline’ to help with questions and concerns.

The media was not shy to intensify the issue; however, some coverage was ‘incomplete and unbalanced’. Dow Corning responded with an 800-page book compiled of scientific studies, memos and related issues. In an attempt to repair their reputation, C-suite executives were replaced and damaging attention was removed from the public view.

The company then focused on the positive actions that were needed. Little by little, they won public opinion back and regained customers through remuneration. Aside from the 1993 settlement, silicone implants are still considered risky, but patients are allowed to receive them. It is conspired that the settlements, however, were established by other implant manufacturers.  

This situation was a crisis with ethical, legal and reputational implications. The article says, “The company did have an ethics policy in place since 1976 that was guiding decision making, but the public perceived that it was making business and legal decisions without addressing the ethical issues around the continued use of its breast implants” (Dow Corning and Breast Implants, n.d.). The overall crisis communication plan at the time was poor as there was no transparency, authenticity, clarity and honesty.

Conclusion

Overall, public relations is important for healthcare and emergencies. Understanding the audience, engaging with press decision-makers, localizing the story, proofreading and checking HIPAA and FDA compliance are the best practices for healthcare PR (Team CSG, 2024). Remaining authentic, honest, transparent and ethical will help build trust with your consumers and audience, as well as maintain trust and relationships.

References

Dow Corning and Breast Implants: Dealing with the perception of deception, n.d., https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/417712/files/126553360?module_item_id=7954158

Field-Springer, K. (n.d.). A Strategic View: #WhatIDidInstead: A Social Media Rather Than Social Norms Approach to Curb Teen Drinking. Cases in Public Relations Strategy. https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/417712/files/126553346?module_item_id=7954156

Kruvand, M., & Silver, M. (2013). Zombies Gone Viral: How a Fictional Zombie Invasion Helped CDC Promote Emergency Preparedness. Case Studies in Strategic Communication Journal. https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/417712/files/126553347?module_item_id=7954157

Ragsdale, K., Harper, S., Kathuria, S., Bardwell, J., Penick, C., & Breazeale, M. (2015). Social Media to Enhance Sexual Health Education for Youth: FactNotFiction’s (Re)Design and Launch. Case Studies in Strategic Communication Journal. https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/417712/files/126553359?module_item_id=7954155  

Savoia, E., Lin, L., & Viswanath, K. (2013). Communications in public health emergency preparedness: a systematic review of the literature. Biosecurity and bioterrorism: biodefense strategy, practice, and science, 11(3), 170–184. https://doi.org/10.1089/bsp.2013.0038

Team CSG. (2024, July 24). The Ultimate Guide to Healthcare Public Relations in 2024. Communications Strategy Group. https://wearecsg.com/blog/ultimate-guide-healthcare-public-relations/