This entry provides an overview of public health crises and public health crisis communication, grounded in crisis communication and literature around emerging infectious disease outbreaks (IDOs). It lays down the theoretical foundations for communication and crisis information management in times of public health risks and emergencies, heralded by two conceptual frameworks developed specifically to tackle IDOs and applicable to other health crises: Vijaykumar and colleagues' risk amplification through media spread (RAMS) framework and Jin colleagues' infectious disease threat (IDT) appraisal model. It outlines key crisis communicative behaviors of individuals, including crisis information seeking and sharing (CISS) and crisis information vetting, summarizing empirical evidences in the context of IDOs. The rise of online misinformation as a critical concern in the communication management of IDOs and emerging interventions to combat this threat are further examined. Unique challenges and opportunities embedded in public health crisis communication (e.g., overcoming unintended effects of public health crisis communication) are identified for future research.

For more than a year the world has tried to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This special issue of the Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research (JICRCR) provides an expert evaluation of how different countries have responded to this global threat. As the pandemic has fundamentally affected most of our lives in a multitude of ways, lessons learned and insights gained from innovative and inclusive research have also advanced theory and practice in public health crisis and risk communication.

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PurposeThe purpose of the study is to provide insights on the COVID-19 pandemic communication from the lessons learned by health communication executives—how they perceived the COVID-19 pandemic and recommend preparing for communication management of future public health crises.Design/methodology/approachA number of top health communication executives in the United States, who worked in the healthcare industry for at least 25 years and held titles like director, president and chief strategist, were interviewed for their unique perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used the contingency theory of strategic conflict management for qualitative deductive analysis of the following segmentations of key factors that drove organizational communication management decision making during the pandemic: organization characteristics, relationship characteristics, general external climate, external publics and the issue under question.FindingsHealth communication executives heavily relied on their past health communication experiences, which led to nuanced understandings of the COVID-19 pandemic. Practically, the health communication executives urged future practitioners to constantly assess risks, hire and use diverse and representative decision-makers; set a communication protocol; and keep the communication in perspective. Theoretically, the contingency theory is furthered—there appears to be a theoretical linkage between the construct of general external climate and the construct of the external public.Originality/valueThe unique perspectives of top health communication executives, based in the United States, provided in-depth insights on the COVID-19 pandemic—its nuances, challenges and main influences (e.g. political, racial, etc.). These takeaways and recommendations can be adapted by other organizations and future health communicators in other parts of the world.