![]() ![]() Effective early warning systems comprise knowledge of risks and hazards, monitoring and warning services, issuing of warnings to people at risk, and public awareness and preparedness. Specifically, the Sendai Framework's multiple priorities for the appropriate management of disaster risk, from understanding risk to investing in disaster risk reduction, can complement the WHO pandemic model, which is a multi-stage model that builds from no to sustained community outbreaks. The noted deficiencies in COVID-19 early warning systems creates an opportunity to consider how the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction can complement the WHO pandemic model. According to Fearnley and Dixon future pandemic early warning systems could comprise system processes across multiple organisations, the identification of “what combinations of text and iconographies work across traditional and social media (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp etc.) to indicate risk levels, and required or advised actions”, and areas of system standardisation and localisation (p. In the early stages of COVID-19, local and global warning systems were considered “woefully underdeveloped” leading to calls to mitigate future waves of COVID-19 by drawing on early warning systems as applied in environmental hazards ( p. However, studies also highlighted deficits with the WHO model including failure to (a) create common understanding of phases among nation states, (b) accurately reflect pandemic threat, and (c) avoid public confusion. In previous epidemics like HIV/AIDS, alignment between the WHO guidelines and member state emergency management systems was considered a success factor. In its advisories about COVID-19, the WHO signalled the importance of risk communication and community engagement readiness and response, by stating that “failure to communicate well lead to a loss of trust and reputation, economic impacts, and – in worst case – a loss of lives” ( p. The within-pandemic escalation stage refers to the period of time after a pandemic has been declared where there is sustained transmission across two or more countries, and where messaging typically seeks to escalate perception of risk. The pre-pandemic early intervention stage refers to the time prior to the declaration of pandemic where human to human transmission is occurring and initial messaging around preventing and reducing risk is recommended. These stages are delineated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and used by governments when activating response plans, implementing control measures, and issuing communication guidelines. This study examines how to communicate risk within and between two stages, pre-pandemic early intervention stage and within-pandemic escalation stage of COVID-19. Virus outbreaks and their potential for pandemic status create a sustained need for accurate and timely information that can be used to guide risk perception and adaptive behaviour. Taken together, the findings contribute to academic and policy approaches for adapting communication to changing risk. Signal words and phrases, which hold potential as iconic features for biological hazard messages, showed varying performance across message stages, indicating an opportunity to improve them. However, increased assertiveness also increased non-adaptive behavioural intentions, though increased risk indication reduced non-adaptive behavioural intentions. ![]() Subsequently, increased negative affect, assertiveness, and risk indication increased adaptive behavioural intentions. Results showed that between the two stages, messages were differentiated by negative affect, assertiveness, and risk. Next, it examined the power of words and phrases, selected from the same messages, for (a) their potential to signal risk, warning, and behavioural response and (b) the extent to which they reflected pandemic stages. Using a between-subject design, participants assessed the way messages (curated and then expertly attributed to the two stages) were perceived and influenced behaviours. ![]() In April 2020, approximately one month after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, an experiment using a sample of 769 Australian participants was conducted. This study examines messages issued across two stages established by the World Health Organization (WHO): (a) pre-pandemic early intervention stage and (b) within-pandemic escalation stage. During COVID-19, governments issued messages to trigger action, encourage sustained behaviours (e.g., social distancing, hand hygiene), and manage system wide risk. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |