TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of tailored COVID-19 messages for vulnerable Australians
T2 - A study protocol
AU - Jepson, Megan
AU - Williams, Nathan
AU - Haines, Terry P.
AU - on behalf of the PIVC (Pandemic Information for Vulnerable Communities) Group
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is funded by the Australian Government via the Medical Research Future Fund Communication Strategies and Approaches During Outbreaks grant (RRCSA000014). Awarded to: TH, GR, KH, CW, LC, JH, LW, KL, RL as well as authors named as representatives of our partner organisations: MP, RM, SA, and NW (Natasha Wilkinson). The funders (through the Commonwealth Department of Health) contributed to study design only and will not be involved in future data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of this manuscript or future manuscripts. Funder website: https://business.gov. au/grants-and-programs/communicationstrategies-and-approaches-during-outbreaks.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Jepson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Multiple approaches can be used to communicate public health messages through mass media. It is unclear which approaches are superior for meeting the needs of the general community along with vulnerable population subgroups. To compare different public health strategy communication approaches for influencing the COVID-safe behavioural intentions of both community and vulnerable population subgroups. This study will conduct three concurrent 'helix' randomised controlled trials with Latin square sequencing and factorial intervention allocation to assess the effectiveness of different communication strategies amongst the Australian general community and six subgroups that are considered vulnerable to contracting, transmitting or experiencing severe consequences of COVID-19 infection. Communication approaches being compared include: the format of communication (written versus video), who is providing information (general practitioner, politician, community-representative), what is said and how it is delivered (direct information provision versus conversational approach) and the visual content of video messaging (animation versus 'talking head'). Recruited participants will be randomly allocated to receive a specific combination of health messaging strategies using six different COVID-19 context areas. Outcomes will be assessed in a survey using behaviour intention questions, and questions surrounding level of agreement with feeling represented in the health messaging strategy. These trials will use a unique research approach to provide an experimental evidence base to help guide development of impactful and inclusive COVID-19 and related public health messaging. All three trials are registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR). Trial 1: Update and impact of Government recommendations about COVID-19 (coronavirus)-Stage 3, Trial 1, vulnerable subgroup populations (ACTRN12622000606785). Trial 2: Update and impact of Government recommendations about COVID-19 (coronavirus)-Stage 3, Trial 2, community group (ACTRN12622000605796). Trial 3: Update and impact of Government recommendations about COVID-19 (coronavirus)-Stage 3, Trial 3, What communication strategy is most effective for both vulnerable and community group populations? (ACTRN12622000617763).
AB - Multiple approaches can be used to communicate public health messages through mass media. It is unclear which approaches are superior for meeting the needs of the general community along with vulnerable population subgroups. To compare different public health strategy communication approaches for influencing the COVID-safe behavioural intentions of both community and vulnerable population subgroups. This study will conduct three concurrent 'helix' randomised controlled trials with Latin square sequencing and factorial intervention allocation to assess the effectiveness of different communication strategies amongst the Australian general community and six subgroups that are considered vulnerable to contracting, transmitting or experiencing severe consequences of COVID-19 infection. Communication approaches being compared include: the format of communication (written versus video), who is providing information (general practitioner, politician, community-representative), what is said and how it is delivered (direct information provision versus conversational approach) and the visual content of video messaging (animation versus 'talking head'). Recruited participants will be randomly allocated to receive a specific combination of health messaging strategies using six different COVID-19 context areas. Outcomes will be assessed in a survey using behaviour intention questions, and questions surrounding level of agreement with feeling represented in the health messaging strategy. These trials will use a unique research approach to provide an experimental evidence base to help guide development of impactful and inclusive COVID-19 and related public health messaging. All three trials are registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR). Trial 1: Update and impact of Government recommendations about COVID-19 (coronavirus)-Stage 3, Trial 1, vulnerable subgroup populations (ACTRN12622000606785). Trial 2: Update and impact of Government recommendations about COVID-19 (coronavirus)-Stage 3, Trial 2, community group (ACTRN12622000605796). Trial 3: Update and impact of Government recommendations about COVID-19 (coronavirus)-Stage 3, Trial 3, What communication strategy is most effective for both vulnerable and community group populations? (ACTRN12622000617763).
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147005238&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0280865
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0280865
M3 - Article
C2 - 36706131
AN - SCOPUS:85147005238
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 1
M1 - e0280865
ER -