COVCOM - Fighting a pandemic through translating science

COVCOM aims to develop effective, evidence-based video communication for translating complex but important health messages about infectious diseases and pandemics.

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Facts
COVCOM

Research project supported by the Research Council of Norway's COVID-19 Emergency Call 2020 - 2022

Project manager

Professor Jo Røislien

Logo COVCOM - Fighting a pandemic through translating science

An infectious disease is a special type of health challenge with its potential for rapid incidence growth. When dealing with such exponential growth regarding potential spread, if an imposed societal measure does not feel drastic, it may already be too late. This has strong implications for public health communication. Bringing about attitude change and acceptance for strict regulations requires explaining health science topics so that also nonexperts can quickly understand. How to go about to succeed at this is largely unknown. As media habits have changed, video has become a preferred medium constituting almost 80% of all internet traffic. Yet little is known about how to most effectively use video for relaying complex health messages.

The aim of this study is to develop effective, evidence-based video communication for translating complex but important health messages about infectious diseases and pandemics, using COVID-19 as a case to learn and prepare society for handling also future pandemics. Creating effective science communication requires interdisciplinary collaboration, and the project will bring together health professionals and scholars, media
creatives, psychologists, statisticians and professional communicators. The study population will include representatives from both the general public and decision makers as part of a holistic approach to how health related risk is understood and communicated on all levels. The general population is a heterogenous group and a one-size-fits-all solution is not to be expected.

Partners

The project is affiliated with the research center SHARE – Centre for Resilience in Healthcare at the University of Stavanger. Partners include Stavanger University Hospital, the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Leeds and Universiteit Leiden.

Academic journal articles

Exponential growth bias of infectious diseases: a systematic review protocol
Siv Hilde Berg, Daniel Adrian Lungu, Kolbjørn Brønnick, Stig Harthug, Jo Røislien. JMIR Preprints25/02/2022:37441

Comprehending and Acting on Pandemic Health Risk Information Differently: A Qualitative Study Using the Mental Models’ Approach
Siv Hilde Berg, Marie Therese Shortt, Henriette Thune, Jo Røislien, Jane K. O’Hara, Daniel Adrian Lungu, Siri Wiig. Prescreen BMC Public Health. 2021 Oct 15 doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-952613/v1

Exploring health experts’ and creative communicators’ focus in pandemic video communication: A qualitative study
Marie Therese Shortt, Siv Hilde Berg, Siri Wiig, Daniel Adrian Lungu, Ionica Smeets, Henriette Thune and Jo Røislien. Front. Commun. 30 May 2022;  7:886768. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.886768ABSTRACT

Creating Effective, Evidence-Based Video Communication of Public Health Science (COVCOM Study): Protocol for a Sequential Mixed Methods Effect Study
Jo Røislien, Jane O’Hara, Ionica Smeets, Kolbjørn Brønnick, Siv Hilde Berg, Marie Therese Shortt, Daniel Adrian Lungu, Henriette Thune, Siri Wiig. JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Mar 11;11(3):e34275. doi: 10.2196/34275ABSTRACT

The role of recipients’ characteristics in health video communication outcomes: a scoping review
Daniel Adrian Lungu, Jo Røislien, Siri Wiig, Marie Therese Shortt, Francesca Ferrè, Siv Hilde Berg, Henriette Thune, Kolbjørn Kallesten Brønnick. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Dec 30;23(12):e30962. doi: 10.2196/30962ABSTRACT

Shortcomings in public health authorities’ videos on COVID-19: limited reach and a creative gap
Marie Therese Shortt, Ionica Smeets, Siri Wiig, Siv Hilde Berg, Daniel Adrian Lungu, Henriette Thune, Jo Røislien. Front. Commun., 23 December 2021 doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.764220ABSTRACT

Health authorities’ health risk communication with the public during pandemics: a rapid scoping review.
Berg SH, O’Hara JK, Shortt MT, Thune H, Brønnick KK, Lungu DA, Røislien J, Wiig S. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jul 15;21(1):1401. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11468-3.ABSTRACT

Media and popular science contributions

07.09.2022: UiS: Science communication needs creativity (in Norwegian)

12.08.2022: KOM24: The study by Røislien gives a wrong picture of our videos, say NIPH (in Norwegian)

12.08.2022: KOM24: People choose YouTube-videos about Covid-19 rather than those by WHO: – Could get scary (in Norwegian)

02.06.2022: NRK P2 Ekko: Jo Røislien discusses the COVCOM project on the radio (at: 1:10:45, in Norwegian)

02.06.2022: Kommunikasjonsforeningen: Science communication needs creativity, by Jo Røislien and Marie Therese Shortt (in Norwegian)

24.08.2021: UiS: Science Communication – A Balancing Act (in Norwegian)

22.08.2021: Aftenposten: Science communication that works, by Jo Røislien and Siv Hilde Berg (in Norwegian)

27.07.2021: NRK Radio P1: Jo Røislien discusses health research and health communication (in Norwegian)

11.07.2021: Morgenbladet: The pandemic has given science communication a new place in society, by Hanne Røislien (in Norwegian)

19.06.2021: NRK Radio: Jo Røislien presents COVCOM project (at 48:30min, in Norwegian)

29.10.2020: University of Stavanger: Principal at UiS endorses COVCOM in annual speech (at 15 mins, in Norwegian)

16.06.2020: DNX Studio Podcast: Interview with Jo Røislien (Norwegian only)

22.05.2020: UiS: 7 postdoctoral positions related to pandemic risk and science communication (Research Council of Norway call for proposals link)

16.05.2020: Kreativt Forum: Research in Science Communication during a time of crisis (in Norwegian)

13.05.2020: Rogalands Avis: UiS celebrating after being awarded funding (in Norwegian)

07.05.2020: Forskerforum: Covid-19 projects awarded millions from the Research Council of Norway (in Norwegian)

26.03.2020: Radio NRK: Jo Røislien – Når skal vi få leve som normalt igjen? (in Norwegian)

21.03.2020: Radio NRK: Henriette Thune on interdisciplinary research in communication during COVID-19 pandemic (in Norwegian) – PART 1

21.03.2020: Radio NRK: Henriette Thune on interdisciplinary research in communication during COVID-19 pandemic (in Norwegian) – PART 2

21.03.2020: Radio NRK: Henriette Thune on interdisciplinary research in communication during COVID-19 pandemic (in Norwegian) – PART 3

Project manager

Professor
Faculty of Health Sciences
Department of Quality and Health Technology