The role of strategic communication to respond effectively to pandemics

ABSTRACT Health communication is a crucial social process for responding to devastating pandemics, which demand timely, accurate, and culturally sensitive communication that meaningfully informs coordinated and effective responses. The current coronavirus pandemic has not been responded to well in many parts of the world due, in large part, to ineffective communication, resulting in high rates of infection, death, and suffering. This article examines the communication demands of responding to pandemics and expands upon Mowlana’s point that pandemics demand novel responsive programs and policies to adapt to serious challenges. The article applies Mowlana’s examination of power issues that emerge during pandemics by focusing on the power of health and risk communication, sharing relevant health information, promoting sensemaking, and encouraging coordination in response to pandemics. Relevant health information can empower effective responses to pandemics by enhancing understanding about health threats, enabling development of evidence-based strategies for responding to threats, and providing guidance for averting and addressing future pandemics. This article is grounded in the systems principle of requisite variety and community-based sense-making tenets of Weick’s model of organizing. The development of strategic communication responses to pandemics is shown to provide important opportunities to promote international health diplomacy through the use of soft power.