Communication Challenges Surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic (On-demand webinar)

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on June 11, 2020.

Training Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided and continues to provide huge challenges to our public health system. One challenge has been behavioral, in that mitigating the consequences of the disease involves huge behavioral changes and long term cooperation on the part of the public at large. Changing behavior and gaining the public’s cooperation is in part a problem in communication and persuasion. In this webinar, we will discuss four challenges to communicating successfully during the COVID-19 pandemic including: (1) the need for clear, consistent, credible and apolitical communication (CCCaP); (2) how various types of informational uncertainty challenge CCCaP; (3) how misinformation challenges CCCaP and how it can be addressed (and not addressed); and (4) looking ahead to the virus’ demise with the development of a successful vaccine, public health campaigns must ready the public to accept vaccination especially in communities which have traditionally had low vaccination rates.

The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard.

This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu.

About the Trainer
Joseph N. Cappella, PhD

Joseph N. Cappella is the Gerald R. Miller Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at The University of Pennsylvania. Professor Cappella has been a visiting professor at Northwestern University, the University of Arizona, and a visiting scholar at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research has resulted in more than 185 articles and book chapters and four co-authored books in areas of health and political communication, social interaction, nonverbal behavior, media effects, and statistical methods. The articles have appeared in journals of psychology, communication, health, and politics. His research has been supported by grants from NIMH, NIDA, NSF, NCI, NHGRI, the FDA, the Twentieth Century Fund, and from the Markle, Ford, Carnegie, Pew, and Robert Wood Johnson foundations. He has served on the editorial boards of 20 different journals and directed 50 doctoral dissertations.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.