The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Need to Advance in Science Communication

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge that has as one of its key-determinants the ability to adequately communicate with different population groups and institutions on a global scale. In this context, science communication is strategic to engage people into risk management, damage mitigation and recovery initiatives. This presentation aims to identify major scientific literacy demands of health and risk messages on COVID-19 from official campaigns designed by international organizations and leading institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) and the United Nations (UN). A health literacy load analysis was performed and contextualized in the current global scenario of science and health communications, characterized by extreme political and ideological polarization, the influence of behavioral cognitive biases and the amplified dissemination of fake news, influencing the way in which individuals seek, comprehend, evaluate and make meaning of relevant information about the pandemic. As a coping strategy, there is an urgent need to advance in science communication in terms of their health and scientific literacy demands, considering the existing polarized context and the determinants of trust among different population groups from different parts of the globe. One strategy is to promote the creation of cultural circuits that facilitate the signification processes of health and risk messages on COVID-19 among different population groups, during the crisis and in the post-crisis, opening a truly dialogic process between academics, communicators, practitioners, authorities and communities. Otherwise, the only substantial knowledge produced in the scope of this unprecedented pandemic will be the correct way to wash hands.Key words: Science Communication; COVID-19; Health Literacy.