Padmini Murthy MD, MPH, FAMWA, FRSPH,
Vikas Grover Ph.D., CCC-SLP
During the COVID-19 crisis, the world has been reminded of Aristotle’s three essential elements in order for communication to be effective: Ethos (related to the credibility of the matter), Pathos (related to the relevance of the matter and listeners’ connection), and Logos (related to the logic of the matter presented). There is an interesting connection between the management efficiency of this crisis and its relationship with effective communication by relative authorities. On the surface, one might argue this is a medical and public health crisis. Why bother about effective communication at this time? On the contrary, effective communication is directly proportional to the three main aspects of any given situation, let alone a crisis:
Adequate description of the scenario.
Appropriate guidance regarding the dos and the don’ts.
Ensuring people are receptively listening to the leadership evidenced by their actions.
At a recent press conference, Governor Cuomo talked about the importance of communication between neighboring states to coordinate the reopening of certain segments. He went on to explain the word ‘coordination’, to share the relevance and logic behind this word during this time. Essentially, he was requesting the authorities to ‘communicate’ with each other.
A perfect example of effective communication and leadership in the delivery of public health is highlighted from Kerala, a southwestern state of India, with approximately 34 million people. The prevention action force for Covid-19 was successful in breaking the chain because of constructive communication and strong coordination. The government even made sure to set up regular checks to ensure that people who were in isolation followed the recommendations. Simple steps such as frequent announcements in streets, voice messages on phones with clear directions for the public, consistent updates by the chief minister of the state with concrete and tangible intervention steps, and the use of various apps to relay the information to the residents of the state, helped in breaking the chain. Some of the successful public health initiatives which proved effective were contact tracing, cleaning the areas with disinfectants, risk monitoring at the district levels in the state and community engagement which have been at the crux of the efforts. The state was the first in the country to report the outbreak of COVID in January. The screening measures at the local at airports in Kerala were tightened, and travelers from nine countries including coronavirus hot spots such as Iran and South Korea were required to quarantine at home starting Feb. 10, two weeks before India put similar restrictions into place. It is noteworthy that in one instance, more than a dozen foreign nationals were removed from a flight before takeoff because they had not completed their isolation period. Temporary quarantine shelters were established to accommodate tourists and other nonresidents. In addition the local government in the state took the lead in deploying rapid testing kits, which were used in hot spots to check community spread. Walk in testing was implemented as well and Kerala’s strategy of addressing the pandemic has been inclusion of stakeholders from across the state i.e., the public, government and private sectors, society approach, with even students chipping in, building walk-in kiosks for taking samples, inspired by the South Korean model.
Alapppuzha a tiny municipality in Kerala a former COVID hot spot came up with the use of an unique tool for social distancing, i.e., the distribution of umbrellas to its local residents to ensure they maintained the necessary safe mandated guidelines . The project in which 10,000 umbrellas were distributed along with PPE was partly subsidized by the local government. The principle of Aggressive testing, isolating, tracing and treating has resulted in the low number of deaths ie four deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the state so far.The government of Kerala had a concrete plan to prevent the situational pandemic from spreading out of hand. They communicated their intentions clearly and expressed their plan of action. Residents showed tremendous trust in their leaders evidenced by how they followed directions and were successful in interrupting the spread of this virus. The coordination between the task force and the community response led to this victory. It is no exaggeration to say that Kerala’s approach was effective because it was “both strict and humane ” and did not discriminate between the rich and socially disadvantaged populations.
Click on the link to watch the umbrella project undertaken to promote social distancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9PKIGquTJY
Padmini Murthy, M.D., M.P.H., FAWA, FRSPH, is a professor and director of global health at New York Medical College’ School of Health Science and Practice
Vikas Grover, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an assistant professor in the department of speech language pathology at New York Medical College’ School of Health Sciences and Practice.