Grand Round: Effective public health communication: Learning from the COVID Response - 28 March 2023

Effective pandemic communication depends on having a sound, evidence-informed response strategy. Equity and partnership with communities is critical. Effective communication supports the coordinated delivery of interventions adapted to each phase of the response and builds trust.
Key tools include the use of ‘framing’ in designing media messages and approaches for responding to misinformation and disinformation. In our increasingly outraged information environment, there is a need to protect the messenger. We need to document what we have learned to improve our responses to future public health threats and opportunities.
Speaker: Michael Baker
Michael Baker is a Public Health Medicine Specialist and Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington. He has broad interests in public health including infectious diseases, environmental health, and housing and health.
His work during 2020-22 was dominated by assisting with the NZ Covid-19 pandemic response. He is a member of the Government’s Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group and was a strong advocate for the elimination strategy.
Michael has a strong interest in science communication and directs the recently launched Public Health Communication Centre. This independent group is dedicated to increasing the reach and impact of public health research, making it more accessible to the public and decision-makers.