Column Richard Hatzfeld

It’s Time to Up Our Messaging Game Ahead of Another Winter with COVID

After a sharp spike in U.S. COVID cases during the summer, the government was again caught flat-footed, failing to provide Americans with the resources and information needed to make smart choices and stay healthy.

In an effort to get ahead of a potential tripledemic this winter of COVID-19, flu, and RSV that could overwhelm hospitals, health officials have re-booted an important program: making COVID test kits free again. Those kits will be available by mail to households starting September 25.

Next comes the hard part: convincing enough people to get the kits and then persuading them to follow quarantine guidelines if they or their family members get sick.

This is not the time to roll out stale messaging delivered by a carousel of health officials trying to convince the public to get the test kits. Americans are weary of being told to keep their guard up against a disease that many view as more of an inconvenience than a threat. If the sales pitch to get the kits is off, health officials may find that the test kits no longer serve as an effective public health tool. Instead, they could become another partisan symbol of perceived government overreach, further impeding people’s freedom to live as they want.

In short, we have a messaging challenge ahead of us, and if we haven’t taken to heart the lessons learned during the worst early days of the pandemic, we’re doomed to repeat mistakes that cost lives.

How can we be more thoughtful about containing COVID and other dangerous diseases? To generate greater public compliance for fighting an endemic disease, communicators must provide a credible and compelling case of the risk of inaction and convince people that ignorance – of not knowing your infection status – is greater than the cost of knowing. These can be very high bars to clear since people have different thresholds for risk and for being informed.

It’s likely we won’t clear those hurdles with the roll-out of the free test kits. Because the perceived risk of COVID-19 infection and severity is low, many people have adopted a “no test, no stress” attitude, especially in light of the potential personal disruption that COVID infection causes. It’s a dangerous direction and one of the reasons why we will continue to see cases spike.

For communicators to overcome the twin challenges of infection risk perception and status aversion, they must use convert communicators – people who are credible to specific audiences and have changed their views to support disease intervention. There is mounting data showing that people who identified as Republicans were far likelier to get infected by COVID and die from the disease than those from left-leaning political parties. Messaging that taps into this research could point to breaking through to these audiences.

Successful public health interventions rely on a strong majority of the population participating in disease mitigation efforts, which means spotlighting conservative voters who see the value of COVID testing and can serve as credible messengers to similarly ideologically inclined individuals. This is where digital storytelling, data visualization and engagement of champions outside of the health sector can be potent measures to build the case for supporting new public health tools.   

It is also important to truly understand the pain points that different audience segments cite as reasons for not wanting to know their infection status and to provide targeted counterpoints. Most people can’t afford to miss work, even with a mild case, and families can be heavily impacted when a parent must choose between going to work or keeping their kids home. In these and other scenarios, the test result becomes the thing people may begin to dread more than the disease itself.

To ensure that people do not feel like they must choose between a host of the least bad options when COVID comes to their home, the government must consider new incentives for reporting positive test results and adhering to public health guidelines. These can range from reinstituting protected sick leave that was available as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) during the pandemic to encouraging more employers to use the tax credits available through the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) to reimburse for employee sick leave. Without putting these and other options on the table, people will feel penalized even when they do the right thing.

PATIENT ADVISORY

Medika Life has provided this material for your information. It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your health care provider(s). We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy is not an endorsement by Medika Life

Richard Hatzfeld
Richard Hatzfeldhttps://medium.com/@richard.hatzfeld
Richard Hatzfeld is a global communications leader and public health champion who has led campaigns in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas to confront many of the most urgent health issues of our time. Richard is a senior partner at Finn Partners, leading the firm's global public health group from Washington, DC. He was previously a senior leader at Ogilvy, where he advised multinational companies, foundations and NGOs on global health issues, including infectious and parasitic diseases, maternal and child health, immunization, pandemic preparedness, and antimicrobial resistance. Before Ogilvy, Richard was communications director at the Sabin Vaccine Institute and led communications activities for their vaccine development, infectious disease and advocacy efforts, as well as the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases and its award-winning END7 Campaign. Richard began his global public health career pioneering the development of the first reproductive health product line and a nationwide network of maternal/child clinics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on behalf of USAID.

Richard Hatzfeld

Richard Hatzfeld is senior partner, Global Public Health at FINN Partners. During his 25-year career, Hatzfeld has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America on behalf of governments, multinational companies, foundations and NGOs. He joins FINN after five years as a global team lead at Ogilvy, where he supervised multi-national vaccine communication efforts. Prior to Ogilvy, he was the communications director at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, overseeing communications for its vaccine development and advocacy efforts, as well as for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Sabin's award-winning END7 Campaign.

Connect with Richard

Website

Twitter

LinkedIn

All articles, information and publications featured by the author on thees pages remain the property of the author. Creative Commons does not apply and should you wish to syndicate, copy or reproduce, in part or in full, any of the content from this author, please contact Medika directly.