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Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis

  • Cindy Sing Bik Ngai und Rita Gill Singh
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Health, Media, and Communication
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Health, Media, and Communication

Abstract

During health crises such as pandemics, social media communication has become an important vehicle for governments and public health organizations to provide timely health information and foster interactive communication by disseminating epidemic awareness and updates, and engaging the public to adopt social and behavioral preventive actions so as to stem the spread of the disease. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the latest research concerning key areas in social media communication by governments and public health organizations during health crises, particularly during the outbreak of COVID-19, and reveal potential areas for further research and enhanced focus. Special attention is placed on what type of content theme or frame should be communicated across different stages of a health crisis, and other aspects of health crisis messages, including effective modes of communication (e.g., use of multimedia) and interactive features (e.g., hashtags), and emotions expressed in posts, as well as public reactions in response to the communication strategies employed by governments and health organizations on social media. The insights offered have practical implications for governments and health agencies with respect to focusing on specific strategies to promote public engagement with their health crisis communication. This knowledge can also provide insights into how health organizations can potentially collaborate with the media and governments to provide information to the public so that the latter can take preventive actions to minimize the spread of the disease.

Abstract

During health crises such as pandemics, social media communication has become an important vehicle for governments and public health organizations to provide timely health information and foster interactive communication by disseminating epidemic awareness and updates, and engaging the public to adopt social and behavioral preventive actions so as to stem the spread of the disease. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the latest research concerning key areas in social media communication by governments and public health organizations during health crises, particularly during the outbreak of COVID-19, and reveal potential areas for further research and enhanced focus. Special attention is placed on what type of content theme or frame should be communicated across different stages of a health crisis, and other aspects of health crisis messages, including effective modes of communication (e.g., use of multimedia) and interactive features (e.g., hashtags), and emotions expressed in posts, as well as public reactions in response to the communication strategies employed by governments and health organizations on social media. The insights offered have practical implications for governments and health agencies with respect to focusing on specific strategies to promote public engagement with their health crisis communication. This knowledge can also provide insights into how health organizations can potentially collaborate with the media and governments to provide information to the public so that the latter can take preventive actions to minimize the spread of the disease.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1: Message senders
  6. Chapter 1 Creating trust in health organizations 11
  7. Chapter 2 Creating trust and understanding in doctor–patient relationships 31
  8. Chapter 3 Social media influencers for health promotion 49
  9. Chapter 4 Celebrity health narratives and the celebrity sick-scape 69
  10. Section 2: Message content
  11. Chapter 5 Fear appeals in health communication 91
  12. Chapter 6 Messaging and affect processing 109
  13. Chapter 7 Narratives in health communication 127
  14. Chapter 8 Entertainment-Education in the new media landscape: Stimulating creative engagement in online communities for social and behavioral change 147
  15. Chapter 9 The communication of uncertainty in health 169
  16. Chapter 10 Social norms in health communication 187
  17. Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication 213
  18. Chapter 12 Behavioral change techniques in influencers’ social media messages 231
  19. Section 3: Medium types
  20. Chapter 13 Instagram and health 251
  21. Chapter 14 Twitter and health communication 269
  22. Chapter 15 Fantasy, facts and fun: Digital health games for impact and implementation 287
  23. Chapter 16 Chatbots for health communication 309
  24. Section 4: Message recipients
  25. Chapter 17 Information seeking, scanning, and processing 335
  26. Chapter 18 Health literacy and information processing 355
  27. Chapter 19 Language difficulties: Healthcare provider–migrant patient communication 375
  28. Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging 391
  29. Chapter 21 Creating active involvement interventions to effectively reduce adolescent health risk behaviors 411
  30. Section 5: Contemporary challenges
  31. Chapter 22 Infodemics and health information overload 433
  32. Chapter 23 Fake news and misinformation 453
  33. Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis 469
  34. Section 6: Case studies
  35. Chapter 25 Exploring communication in multi-level strategies for promoting healthy diets: A South African case study 491
  36. Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium) 505
  37. List of contributors 527
  38. Index 539
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110775426-025

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1: Message senders
  6. Chapter 1 Creating trust in health organizations 11
  7. Chapter 2 Creating trust and understanding in doctor–patient relationships 31
  8. Chapter 3 Social media influencers for health promotion 49
  9. Chapter 4 Celebrity health narratives and the celebrity sick-scape 69
  10. Section 2: Message content
  11. Chapter 5 Fear appeals in health communication 91
  12. Chapter 6 Messaging and affect processing 109
  13. Chapter 7 Narratives in health communication 127
  14. Chapter 8 Entertainment-Education in the new media landscape: Stimulating creative engagement in online communities for social and behavioral change 147
  15. Chapter 9 The communication of uncertainty in health 169
  16. Chapter 10 Social norms in health communication 187
  17. Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication 213
  18. Chapter 12 Behavioral change techniques in influencers’ social media messages 231
  19. Section 3: Medium types
  20. Chapter 13 Instagram and health 251
  21. Chapter 14 Twitter and health communication 269
  22. Chapter 15 Fantasy, facts and fun: Digital health games for impact and implementation 287
  23. Chapter 16 Chatbots for health communication 309
  24. Section 4: Message recipients
  25. Chapter 17 Information seeking, scanning, and processing 335
  26. Chapter 18 Health literacy and information processing 355
  27. Chapter 19 Language difficulties: Healthcare provider–migrant patient communication 375
  28. Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging 391
  29. Chapter 21 Creating active involvement interventions to effectively reduce adolescent health risk behaviors 411
  30. Section 5: Contemporary challenges
  31. Chapter 22 Infodemics and health information overload 433
  32. Chapter 23 Fake news and misinformation 453
  33. Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis 469
  34. Section 6: Case studies
  35. Chapter 25 Exploring communication in multi-level strategies for promoting healthy diets: A South African case study 491
  36. Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium) 505
  37. List of contributors 527
  38. Index 539
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Heruntergeladen am 9.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110775426-025/html
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