What Did We Learn About Pandemic Communication?

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It’s been more than three years since the COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we knew it. And what have we learned? What did we learn about health communication? About pandemic communication? About data collection and dissemination? About how and why entire communities are still left behind when it comes to responding to public health emergencies?

We watched while culture repeatedly derailed strategy … when there was a strategy. We witnessed a 21st century pandemic tear through a nation armed with programs and policies from the 20th century, and even earlier. It became clear that the systems of disseminating effective pandemic-related information are complicated and delicate. We found out that the process of spreading misleading information is powerful and often obscure. We gained insights about people’s fears and concerns over infectious disease threats. We learned about information voids, knowledge gaps, “how the middle moves,” disinformation spread, and emerging perceptions about childhood vaccinations.

Many of these topics were barely on our radar in early 2020. Now, thanks to the ingenuity, creativity, and perseverance of health communication researchers, we have important new knowledge to contribute to the public health academy and profession. The commentaries and investigations in this issue are some of the first of a continuous flow of research that will be conducted in the field of post-COVID pandemic communication over the years ahead. On behalf of the NYC Pandemic Response Institute’s Communication Team, I am pleased to share the work of these talented researchers and scholars.

Of course, we are still a long way from an equitable system intentionally designed to leave no one behind. Nevertheless, each of these articles nudges us toward that goal, all through the art and practice of improving public health communication.