Overlooking the Obvious: Communication of Efficacy by the Mass Media During the Ebola Crisis in Liberia
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Overlooking the Obvious: Communication of Efficacy by the Mass Media During the Ebola Crisis in Liberia Monique Mitchell Turner 1
&
Tamah Kamlem 2 & Rajiv N. Rimal 3 & Hina Shaikh 4 & Nwanneamaka Ume 2
Accepted: 4 November 2020 # Society for Prevention Research 2020
Abstract The role of mass media during a public health crisis is an ineluctable part of providing the public with critical information rapidly, particularly messages about self- and response efficacy. However, little is known about the role local news media play in disseminating efficacy information during infectious disease outbreaks. Here, we use the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia as a case to explore this question. We content analyzed newspaper and radio messages disseminated between March 2014 and March 2015, during the midst of the outbreak. Results show that both radio programs and newspaper articles mentioned over 21 prevention steps at some point, with noticeable differences within which disease prevention messages were communicated most frequently to the public. At least 1 mention of self-efficacy was identified in 31.5% of radio content (n = 127), 23.6% of radio programming (n = 55), and 10.6% of newspaper content (n = 745). Response efficacy, signifying effectiveness of preventive methods, was detected in 25.2% of radio (n = 127), 16.4% of radio programming (n = 55), and 15% of newspaper content (n = 745). This is important as efficacy reporting can impact public readiness to adopt preventative measures and affect beliefs about self- and response efficacy, ultimately decreasing chances of spreading the infection and poorer health outcomes. Keywords Health crisis . Communication . Ebola . Prevention message . Self-efficacy . Response efficacy . Liberia
Introduction West Africa’s 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak led to more than 21,000 confirmed cases and more than 11,000 recorded deaths. Most confirmed deaths were concentrated in Liberia (3163 cases and 4810 deaths), Sierra Leone (8706 cases and 3956 deaths), and Guinea (3358 cases and 2544 deaths) (CDC 2016). The mass spread of the disease as well as the number of deaths might have been reduced if the public had attained adequate knowledge of prevention steps and efficacy to take effective action before and during the crisis. Infectious disease * Monique Mitchell Turner [email protected] 1
Department of Communication, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
2
Milken Institute School of Public Health, Department of Global Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
3
Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
4
Milken Institute School of Public Health, Department of Prevention and Community Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
risk and crisis communication efforts must reduce misinformation, encourage prevention to limit spread of the disease, and promote trust that such steps would thwart the danger (CDC 2014). Knowing the steps is not enough; the public must have confidence in their ability to execu
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