Public Health messaging and motivations around COVID-19 prevention

How a member of the public reacts to health crises depends on a lot of differing factors, including perceived risk or resistance to the disease, trust in the government, and general anxiety levels. Since media, including government-sourced information, can also determine how individuals respond to health messages, the impact of crisis communication could depend on how the risk is framed. Dr Su Lin Yeo and colleagues explore the effectiveness of the Singaporean government’s messaging to promote COVID-19 prevention behaviours,  be they social distancing, mask wearing or hand washing. In particular, does viewing the world as dangerous in general affect the success of prevention messages? Read their original research: https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2022.2036742