To have the best chance for success, public communications campaigns for biological incidents must do more than just deliver protective action and other response information to the public. Effective communications throughout all stages of response and recovery should be fostered by the development of comprehensive and flexible communications plans, strategies, and content in collaboration with public health authorities before an incident occurs and by cultivating and maintaining relationships with the public. Effective communications require understanding your audience, conducting pre-incident preparedness campaigns, securing technical assistance, communicating throughout response and recovery, communicating with empathy, and communicating for large-scale, intentional, and/or unattributed incidents.
2.3.1 Understand Your Audience
Understanding the cultural background, history, location, primary language, values, accessibility needs, etc. of your community’s various “audiences” is key to designing an effective communications strategy for any crisis or emergency situation.42 Tools such as community-wide surveys can be used to gain insight into the needs and concerns of specific populations and identify populations that may benefit from different or more specific instructions for biological incidents (e.g., immunocompromised, those experiencing homelessness, historically marginalized populations, etc.). Information collected from such a survey will help public communications staff develop successful whole-community messaging campaigns. Community surveys are also a good place to start building public trust in biological incident planning efforts.
2.3.2 Conduct Pre-Incident Preparedness Campaigns
The public’s familiarity with the basic characteristics of biological incidents and corresponding responses and recovery measures can be enhanced through pre-incident education. Pre-incident education also increases the likelihood that the public will heed critical guidance such as directives to shelter-in-place or maintain social distancing and protect themselves from potential exposures. Preparedness messaging strategies that are action focused help the public feel more in control of an emergency and help them retain information and make better informed decisions about how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe during a biological incident.
2.3.3 Secure Technical Expertise
Integrating a public health/epidemiological advisor/SME into the communications team will enable the team to draft plain language messages that clearly and simply explain pathogen-specific risks, clarify the importance of recommended protective actions, and address responder and public concerns about exposures. In addition, some messages are best delivered by scientific experts, and for some platforms and media types, such as live interviews, a technical expert should be in front of a camera. Also, when rumors and mis- and disinformation about the incident appear across social media platforms, advisors can quickly assess questionable messages and assist in drafting messages to counter misinformation and promote official guidance. Public health/epidemiological/veterinary experts may be available from community, state, or national organizations, such as state health or agriculture agencies, to serve as SMEs.
2.3.4 Communicate Throughout Response and Recovery
Early in the response, establish that the incident will likely continue to evolve over time, and messages will be updated to reflect current conditions and new information as it is gathered, such as pathogen identification or changing of protective guidance. Messages that include simple explanations of what work is ongoing and how it affects current and future public/animal health and environmental safety helps the public understand that work is being done hours, days, or even months after the incident. Frequent, regular updates from an official account on social media encourage and enable compliance with public health guidance even when no new information is available. Additionally, this helps to ensure people will continue to look to official sources for information. Social media platforms should be monitored and analyzed to identify common questions, rumors, concerns, and immediate needs. This information can help inform the structure and content of ongoing response and recovery messaging.
2.3.5 Communicate With Empathy
Create validating and empathetic messaging to help sustain the community and maintain its support during difficult times. The public most likely will experience strong emotions due to displacement, perceived speed of response and recovery activities, economic challenges (including potential loss of income), and illness or loss of loved ones. Consideration of the public’s fear, grief, and sadness before giving information or instruction reassures the public that their concerns are being heard and taken seriously and increases their trust in the response and recovery process.
2.3.6 Communications for Large-Scale, Intentional, and/or Unattributed Incidents
Whether small or large in scope, a biological attack on American soil will almost certainly be a leading topic of worldwide reporting and interest. Even an unintentional biological incident that is large in scale (such as a pandemic) will attract 24-hour, multi-platform, multi-outlet interest and regional, national, and international coverage. More locally, a mass casualty biological incident will likely incite feelings of fear, anger, and grief within the public. In any case, wide reporting by media outlets can be expected in conjunction with a biological incident. Local PIOs and communications teams likely will be immediately overwhelmed by inquiries and will need the support of public affairs staff from neighboring jurisdictions and state and federal agency and private sector partner communications offices. Official communications must always show that everyone’s priority is to protect the public and the environment and focus on the actions being taken to do so. Messages must remain clear, concise, and consistent, providing vital information on protective actions without instilling additional fear or causing panic. In the instance of a terrorist incident, the DOJ FBI must be consulted before issuing sensitive media/press releases.
When developing behavioral guidance messaging, communications staff must consider how their messages and the communications techniques and/or social media campaigns being used are perceived by the public at large. Communications should address the questions and concerns of the whole community, including the public, business owners, elected officials, and responders and healthcare workers, and should be easily understandable. When developing messages and communicating public health risks and protective measures, ask the following questions:
- Is the guidance evidence- and risk-based? Will implementing the guidance achieve benefits that outweigh the risks (e.g., loss of jobs, adverse impacts to critical infrastructure)?
- Do the risks and prevention measures complement each other, or do they conflict (e.g., will fully vaccinated persons still be required to wear masks)?
- What questions should we anticipate from people after we communicate the risks and protective measures (e.g., do I still need to wear a mask outdoors when taking a walk)?
- Is the guidance overly technical? Are there numerous “if and then” conditions or caveats that may confuse readers?
Preparedness messaging strategies that focus on action help the public feel more confident in the response, assist them in understanding what’s important and what’s not, and allow them to make better-informed decisions during an actual incident.
Talking about the people who have succumbed to the disease or agent will be one of the most harrowing aspects of a communicator’s job; messages written with compassion, vulnerability, and strength will help the community begin the recovery process and provide some closure and comfort to those who have lost a great deal.
What Will You Need to Know?
- What are the demographics of your community? How are communication adaptations for variations in population density, non-traditional groups, non-English speaking groups, or other vulnerable community areas or members accounted for in your biological incident response and recovery plans?
- What languages are spoken, preferred, and understood in the community?
- Which local venues have existing emergency plans (for any incident)? Do they have communications plans for large-scale catastrophic incidents?