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Authorized, clear and timely communication of risk to guide public perception and action: lessons of COVID-19 from China
- Source :
- BMC Public Health, BMC Public Health, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- BioMed Central, 2021.
-
Abstract
- BackgroundsThis study examined the dynamic association between risk communication and the public’s risk perception and action across the COVID-19 outbreak timeline in China.MethodsThis study collected publicly available information on COVID-19 released on official channels (e.g., government websites and official media) by the Parehub tool. Also, the study used the Zhongyun Big Data Platform to search public datasets about released COVID-19 information on Chinese social media, such as TikTok and Weibo. An online survey was conducted via WeChat to Chinese citizens using a snowball sampling method. The questionnaire assessed changes in participants’ risk perception and action against COVID-19. The data analysis examined information content and release-time trajectories against the public’s risk perception and actions over time.ResultsAltogether, the collected data includes 1477 pieces of authorized information and 297,000 short videos on COVID-19. Of 1362 participants recruited from 33 provinces and municipalities of China, 1311 respondents (25–60 years, 42% male) were valid for future analysis. The study indicated that 85.7% of participants mainly relied on official channels to obtain information. Alongside the outbreak’s progress, there was a gradual rise in information quantity, publishing frequency, and content variation. Correspondingly, the public’s risk perception that “take it seriously” rose from 13 to 80%, 87.1% of those who took “multiple actions” compared to 25.9% initially.ConclusionsOur findings indicated that insufficient information freely-accessible at the early stages of the outbreak might lead to the lack of risk awareness and the public’s inadequate protective actions. Given the current global situation of COVID-19, the study highlights authorized, transparent, and timely two-way risk communication is vital to guide public perception and actions. Furthermore, our study provides risk communication recommendations and may contribute to developing full measures to address future crises.
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Risk perception
China
media_common.quotation_subject
Public opinion
Lessons from China
Risk communication
Perception
Information
Medicine
Humans
Social media
media_common
business.industry
SARS-CoV-2
Public health
Communication
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
COVID-19
Timeline
Public relations
Snowball sampling
Publishing
Public Opinion
Female
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Prevent measures
business
Social Media
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712458
- Volume :
- 21
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- BMC Public Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....8530a2a29e0eecb04fabf070c7460f70