Lessons from COVID-19 provide valuable insights three years later
Conflicting media messaging and waning trust in institutions cloud an individual’s ability to form their own opinions of a crisis situation. According to findings from North Dakota State’s communications department, “Media messaging holds immense power” in its ability to “[sway] public trust in crisis response tactics.” During Hurricane Katrina, for example, individuals had a hard time forming opinions independent of politicized media coverage. [1]
A similar pattern became apparent during COVID-19 when Dr. Chantel Sloan, Dr. Brianna Magnusson, and others surveyed over 1,000 US adults on March 31st, 2020 to examine budding perceptions, behaviors, and impacts regarding the pandemic. [2]
Existing political beliefs were most strongly associated with attitudes toward COVID-19 intervention. For example, those who consumed liberal-leaning news tended to think that the government was not doing enough and that people were generally under-reacting to COVID-19.
However, more recent research from Sloan and her colleagues identified trust—rather than political ideology—as the culprit for perceptions and behaviors. In fact, they found that trust in institutions strongly influenced hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine.
Rising unemployment rates brought into question how the government handled the pandemic [3] and adjustments in the CDC’s mask-wearing recommendations raised concern about the public health system [4].
Public health professionals cannot wave a magic wand and bestow scientific knowledge upon their publics—though they often wish they could.
Instead, they must seek to understand each demographic, its values, concerns, and current circumstances. Moreover, professionals must be aware of the messaging to which each group has already been exposed.
“Public health experts should consider the political climate in crafting messaging that appeals to the values of those across the political spectrum,” researchers conclude.
Sloan suggests that public health officials must align messaging to a group’s value systems and recognize that different people hold different values.
“I think we need to be extremely active listeners to the population,” she says. “Find out what it might take to restore trust.”
Battling misinformation and relaying scientific discoveries lost officials a tremendous amount of trust.
At the start of the pandemic, practitioners were putting patients on ventilators, following standard protocol for treating respiratory infectious diseases. Later, they found that putting everyone on ventilators was not always necessary.
Unfortunately, the validity of discoveries such as this was often overshadowed by or labeled as misinformation.
“Sometimes science changes very, very quickly, and that doesn't mean that you should begin to mistrust science. That's actually a sign science is doing what it's intended to do,” Dr. Cougar Hall comments.
Meanwhile, Sloan and Magnusson’s study indeed uncovered misinformation. While over 90% of survey respondents correctly identified three symptoms of COVID-19, over 50% misidentified nausea, aches, and nasal congestion as symptoms—which they are not.
COVID-19’s novelty required adaptation from the public, scientists, and public officials alike. Given the foreign nature of the pandemic, officials exerted their best effort.
Sloan admits that public health professionals should acknowledge what they did well, what with implementing the biggest vaccine campaign in human history.
“There was a ton of good,” Sloan says, “but we also are taking lessons forward.”
While this cross-sectional study took place during the budding stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, insights about public opinion and misinformation can be applied to future messaging.
Public health officials can build trust by seeking to understand public opinion and values held—political and otherwise. Similarly, individuals can seek trusted sources, avoid confirmation bias, and consider conflicting perspectives with an open mind.
For further insights on maintaining trust as a public health professional, listen to Dr. Sloan on the Y Health podcast.
