Development of a community-informed communication toolkit to prevent spread of viral illness in schools, including SARS-COV-2

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Tina Suliman¹  August Summers¹  Gabriela V. Calderon²  Lauren M. Klein²  Sara B. Johnson³  Megan E. Collins⁴  Janny Dinh⁵  Erin R. Hager⁵  June Wang⁶  Lorece Edwards⁷ 

[1] Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States;Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;School of Community Health & Policy, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, United States;

关键词: schools;    health communication;    risk communication;    COVID-19;    public health communication;    parent engagement;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1285453

 received in 2023-08-30, accepted in 2023-10-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionSchools were uniquely impacted during the COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) pandemic. We sought to elucidate how parents/guardians of elementary and middle school students in Maryland navigated the return to in-person school following remote instruction. We also sought to understand how they perceived communication about school-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies and their preferences for the content and format of public health communication about COVID-19 mitigation in schools.MethodsWe engaged a community advisory board comprised of key partners and implemented a survey and focus groups.ResultsResults indicated that parents/guardians wanted clearer communication about COVID-19 mitigation policies in schools and were experiencing fatigue and confusion. These insights informed the development of a tailorable communication toolkit. The toolkit was designed to (1) inform parents/guardians about the importance and effectiveness of mitigation strategies for preventing viral spread to keep children in school, (2) promote a sense of community and support, and (3) help school communication teams effectively communicate information about mitigation strategies being implemented.DiscussionWe describe a process for leveraging schools as a trusted messenger, engaging school communities in the development of communication messages, and utilizing a tailorable communication toolkit in the context of shifting public health guidance and local needs. The toolkit development and dissemination process offers a model for targeting public health messaging to parents/guardians in school settings.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Summers, Calderon, Klein, Wang, Dinh, Suliman, Hager, Edwards, Collins and Johnson.