What have we learned about communication inequalities during the H1N1 pandemic: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

BackgroundDuring public health emergencies, public officials are busy in developing communication strategies to protect the population from existing or potential threats. However, a population’s social and individual determinants (i.e. education, income, race/ethnicity) may lead to inequalities in individual or group-specific exposure to public health communication messages, and in the capacity to access, process, and act upon the information received by specific sub-groups- a concept defined as communication inequalities.The aims of this literature review are to: 1) characterize the scientific literature that examined issues related to communication to the public during the H1N1 pandemic, and 2) summarize the knowledge gained in our understanding of social determinants and their association with communication inequalities in the preparedness and response to an influenza pandemic.MethodsArticles were searched in eight major communication, social sciences, and health and medical databases of scientific literature and reviewed by two independent reviewers by following the PRISMA guidelines. The selected articles were classified and analyzed in accordance with the Structural Influence Model of Public Health Emergency Preparedness Communications.ResultsA total of 118 empirical studies were included for final review. Among them, 78% were population-based studies and 22% were articles that employed information environment analyses techniques. Consistent results were reported on the association between social determinants of communication inequalities and emergency preparedness outcomes. Trust in public officials and source of information, worry and levels of knowledge about the disease, and routine media exposure as well as information-seeking behaviors, were related to greater likelihood of adoption of recommended infection prevention practices. When addressed in communication interventions, these factors can increase the effectiveness of the response to pandemics.ConclusionsConsistently across studies, a number of potential predictors of behavioral compliance to preventive recommendations during a pandemic were identified. Our findings show the need to include such evidence found in the development of future communication campaigns to ensure the highest rates of compliance with recommended protection measures and reduce communication inequalities during future emergencies.

Adequacy of public health communications on H7N9 and MERS in Singapore: insights from a community based cross-sectional study

“…In terms of outbreak information source, the television and radio were found to be the most utilized among the respondents regardless of socio-demographic factors. Recent studies on outbreak information dissemination had reported traditional media channels to still be the main source of information, with minimal health information exchanged on social media [43][44][45][46]. Our findings are also congruent with the study conducted by Vijaya et al [17] where the authors found that majority of the respondents depended on the television and printed media for timely and accurate information during the SARS outbreak in Singapore.…”

Awareness, Attitudes, and Actions Related to COVID-19 Among Adults With Chronic Conditions at the Onset of the U.S. Outbreak

“…Although the reasons for these findings are not clear, similar results were reported during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009 (14). Trust in public health officials, information-seeking behaviors, sources of information, frequency of media exposure, knowledge, and worry related to the outbreak were all highlighted determinants of documented disparities in uptake of recommended behaviors.…”

The effects of SNS communication: How expressing and receiving information predict MERS-preventive behavioral intentions in South Korea

“…Their findings showed that the use of microblog or Weibo in China was positively associated with public awareness of a series of food safety incidents and factual awareness, in addition to preventive actions regarding food risks. However, in the case of infectious disease outbreaks, the impact of using SNSs on people's attitudes and behaviors has been largely overlooked (Lin, Savoia, Agboola, & Viswanath, 2014). Given that SNSs have been recognized as useful communication tools to raise awareness during an infectious disease outbreak (Chew & Eysenbach, 2010;Ding & Zhang, 2010;Liu & Kim, 2011), it is reasonable to assume that communication via SNSs of diseaserelated information influences people's perceptions, concerns, and behaviors in relation to the outbreak.…”