Communication in the health sector to COVID-19 pandemic managment

Scientific problem of the topic. The experience of past crises shows that their management in the public sector lacks effective communication. There is a lack of systemic change, lack of resources, lack of skills, lack of mastery of technology, lack of cooperation, lack of flexibility, and inherent problems of closedness, which have highlighted the problems related to internal and external communication in the health sector. The problematic question is how could communication in the health sector have contributed to the management of COVID-19? The aim of the study was to identify the potential of health sector communication in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in the Lithuanian health sector. 1) Analyse the concept of communication. 2) To analyse the health sector's communication tools for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. 3) To analyse the health sector's communication options for managing the COVID-19 pandemic through a case study and present the results. Research methodology. The study was carried out by means of a questionnaire survey. The survey questionnaire was based on the analysis of the scientific literature. The sample consisted of 257 professionals working in the health care system in the positions of manager, head, doctor, senior nursing administrator and nurse. Results and conclusions. The clarity, validity, timeliness, delivery through different communication media and tailoring to the target audience were essential for effective communication during the pandemic. The majority of respondents tended to disagree with the lack of theoretical knowledge about the importance and benefits of communication, lack of specialised training in communication, lack of practical communication skills, and lack of reliability of information when assessing the communication problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the majority of the participants agreed that communication lacked timeliness of information, accuracy/clarity of information, validity of information. The majority of the participants agreed that there was a lot of misinformation in the public space about the organisation and the pandemic. There was also general agreement that the organisation was fair in its presentation of information, adapted information to the nature of the audience, mobilised staff within the organisation to work as a team, and contributed to cooperation with the public and its groups, and with business.