Culture Matters in Communicating the Global Response to COVID-19
C O Airhihenbuwa1, J Iwelunmor2, D Munodawafa3
1School of Public Health, Georgia State University, 140 Decatur St, Atlanta, GA 30303.
Abstract:
Current communication messages in the COVID-19 pandemic tend to focus more on individual risks than community risks resulting from existing inequities. Culture is central to an effective community-engaged public health communication to reduce collective risks. In this commentary, we discuss the importance of culture in unpacking messages that may be the same globally (physical/social distancing) yet different across cultures and communities (individualist versus collectivist). Structural inequity continues to fuel the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on black and brown communities nationally and globally. PEN-3 offers a cultural framework for a community-engaged global communication response to COVID-19.
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