Platformization of healthcare communication: Insights from the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-266
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Locatelli ◽  
Alessandro Lovari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Healthcare Communication ◽  
Local Health Authorities ◽  
The Impact

Over the past few years, public health organizations have adopted new communication practices, such as social media communication, framed by the concepts of Health 2.0 and Medicine 2.0. These concepts need to be reconsidered in the light of the transformation of social media as digital platforms. This article aims to define and critically discuss the concept of the platformization of healthcare communication, investigating the impact of social media incorporation on the local health authorities’ Facebook communication during the early phase of the COVID-19 emergency in Italy. Findings show the progressive incorporation of the mechanisms of platformization by local health authorities and the progressive shift of their Facebook pages from connectors to complementors of healthcare communication and services during the early phase of the pandemic. Conclusions critically discuss the incorporation of social media into the communication strategies of the public healthcare sector.

Social Media for Health Communication

2014 ◽  
pp. 237-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Cioni ◽  
Alessandro Lovari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Organizations ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Local Health Authorities

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the current issues and the challenging process of the adoption of social media by Italian local health authorities (ASL). After a literature review of the role of social media for health organizations, the authors focus their attention on how social network sites are modifying health communication and relations with citizens in Italy. They conduct an exploratory study articulated in three stages: after mapping the presence of local health authorities on the most popular social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), they carry out a content analysis to describe the prevalent kinds of messages published in the official Facebook timelines; in the third phase, using several interviews with healthcare directors and communications managers, the authors investigate implementation issues, managerial implications, and constraints that influence proper use of these participative platforms by Italian public health organizations. Limitations and further steps of the research are discussed.

scholarly journals SOCIAL MEDIA LOGIC AND HEALTH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INDEPENDENCE AND CONSTRAINTS: EVIDENCE FROM ITALY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Locatelli ◽  
Alessandro Lovari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Information Diffusion ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Media Habits ◽  
Local Health Authorities

This paper presents the results of a study that investigated how local health authorities (LHAs) located in the most impacted areas by Covid-19 of Lombardy (North of Italy) answered to the challenges imposed by the pandemic through their official Facebook pages during the early weeks of the emergency (January-March 2020). The goal is to understand how the logics of social media affected LHAs’ communication, representing an opportunity for health institutions to enter a new phase of information diffusion and relations with stakeholders and layperson, but also a mean of constraints due to their algorithmic logics and limits of access. The originality of the approach is that, in order to understand the relationship between social media and local health authorities, the theoretical framework hybridizes health communication theories and social media studies. Empirical results showed that LHAs’ communication on Facebook was affected by the logics of programmability and popularity, and also that the institutional language was shaped by social media habits, with an intense use of visuals, hashtags and other engagement strategies. Findings highlighted also that Covid-19 related messaged triggered users’ interactions. The study pointed out the relevance of social media for healthcare communication, opening up new reflections and insights about platforms’ role on ordinary and emergency situations like the pandemic. Interdependence and tensions between public health communication and algorithmic and platform logics are critically discussed.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Learning from Lessons To Guide Treatment and Prevention Interventions

mSphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris R. Triggle ◽  
Devendra Bansal ◽  
Elmoubasher Abu Baker Abd Farag ◽  
Hong Ding ◽  
Ali A. Sultan
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Prevention Interventions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Local Health Authorities ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and first emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Since then, the virus has rapidly spread to many countries. While the outbreak in China appears to be in decline, the disease has spread across the world, with a daily increase in the number of confirmed cases and infection-related deaths. Here, we highlight (i) the lessons that have been learnt so far and how they will benefit reducing the impact of COVID-19 disease and (ii) an update on the status of drug treatment and vaccine development to prevent COVID-19 and potential future related pandemics. Although the mortality rate is clearly higher than for influenza, the rate does seem to vary from country to country, possibly reflecting differences in how rapidly local health authorities respond to isolate and effectively care for the affected population. Drugs are urgently needed for both prophylaxis and the treatment of severely ill patients; however, no proven effective therapies for SARS-CoV-2 currently exist. A number of drugs that have been approved for other diseases are being tested for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, but there is an absence of data from appropriately designed clinical trials showing that these drugs, either alone or in combination, will prove effective. There is also a global urgency to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, but development and appropriate testing will take at least a year before such a vaccine will be globally available. This review summarizes the lessons learnt so far from the COVID-19 pandemic, examines the evidence regarding the drugs that are being tested for the treatment of COVID19, and describes the progress made in efforts to develop an effective vaccine.

OBSTETRICS AND LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES

BMJ ◽  
1924 ◽  
Vol 2 (3329) ◽  
pp. 741-742
Author(s):  
J. G. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Local Health ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Local Health Authorities

scholarly journals To Swab or Not to Swab? The Lesson Learned in Italy in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4042
Author(s):  
Paola Berchialla ◽  
Maria Teresa Giraudo ◽  
Carmen Fava ◽  
Andrea Ricotti ◽  
Giuseppe Saglio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Phase ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Daily Number ◽  
Testing Strategies ◽  
Serious Infections ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Epidemiological Link ◽  
Severe Respiratory Illness

Testing for the SARS-CoV-2 infection is critical for tracking the spread of the virus and controlling the transmission dynamics. In the early phase of the pandemic in Italy, the decentralized healthcare system allowed regions to adopt different testing strategies. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the extensive testing of symptomatic individuals and their contacts on the number of hospitalizations against a more stringent testing strategy limited to suspected cases with severe respiratory illness and an epidemiological link to a COVID-19 case. A Poisson regression modelling approach was adopted. In the first model developed, the cumulative daily number of positive cases and a temporal trend were considered as explanatory variables. In the second, the cumulative daily number of swabs was further added. The explanatory variable, given by the number of swabs over time, explained most of the observed differences in the number of hospitalizations between the two strategies. The percentage of the expected error dropped from 70% of the first, simpler model to 15%. Increasing testing to detect and isolate infected individuals in the early phase of an outbreak improves the capability to reduce the spread of serious infections, lessening the burden of hospitals.

scholarly journals Mobility, exposure, and epidemiological timelines of COVID-19 infections in China outside Hubei province

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Fan Liu ◽  
Xiao-Ke Xu ◽  
Ye Wu
Keyword(s):  
Hubei Province ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Travel History ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Virus Exposure ◽  
Public Disclosures ◽  
Local Health Authorities

AbstractThe 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is pseudonymously linked to more than 100 million cases in the world as of January 2021. High-quality data are needed but lacking in the understanding of and fighting against COVID-19. We provide a complete and updating hand-coded line-list dataset containing detailed information of the cases in China and outside the epicenter in Hubei province. The data are extracted from public disclosures by local health authorities, starting from January 19. This dataset contains a very rich set of features for the characterization of COVID-19’s epidemiological properties, including individual cases’ demographic information, travel history, potential virus exposure scenario, contacts with known infections, and timelines of symptom onset, quarantine, infection confirmation, and hospitalization. These cases can be considered the baseline COVID-19 transmissibility under extreme mitigation measures, and therefore, a reference for comparative scientific investigation and public policymaking.

scholarly journals Leaders’ Emotional Intelligence and Employees’ Performance: A Case in Nigeria’s Public Healthcare Sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adebukola Esther Oyewunmi ◽  
Olabode Adeleke Oyewunmi ◽  
Ibiyinka Stella Ojo ◽  
Olumuyiwa Akinrole Oludayo
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Public Healthcare Sector ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sector Data

Undoubtedly, multiple competencies are essential for effective leadership and identifying specific competencies that will foster employees’ performance, is a veritable venture. This study explores the impact of leaders’ emotional intelligence on employees’ performance within Nigeria’s public healthcare sector and also provides perspective on the contextual underpinnings. It adopts the survey method and randomly samples leaders and employees within the sector. Data analyses using the t-test and hierarchical regression analytical tool, reveals a significant correlation between the emotional intelligence of leaders and the performance of employees. The study finds that the task of leadership, coupled with the multiple challenges within Nigeria’s public healthcare sector, requires a reasonable measure of emotional intelligence in order to facilitate employees’ performance.

scholarly journals Childhood Immunisation Coverage during the COVID-19 Epidemic in Italy

Vaccines ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Michela Sabbatucci ◽  
Anna Odone ◽  
Carlo Signorelli ◽  
Andrea Siddu ◽  
Andrea Silenzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
National Health System ◽  
P Value ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Rate Decrease ◽  
Rotavirus Vaccination ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Vaccine Type ◽  
Childhood Vaccine ◽  
Local Health Authorities

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected national healthcare systems worldwide, with around 282 million cumulative confirmed cases reported in over 220 countries and territories as of the end of 2021. The Italian National Health System was heavily affected, with detrimental impacts on preventive service delivery. Routine vaccination services were disrupted across the country during the first months of the pandemic, and both access to and demand for vaccines have decreased during the pandemic. In many cases, parents preferred to postpone scheduled appointments for routine paediatric vaccinations because of stay-at-home orders or fear of COVID-19 infection when accessing care. The objective of the current study was to assess the routine childhood vaccine coverage (VC) rates during the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy. We compared 2020 and 2019 VC by age group and vaccine type. The Italian Ministry of Health collected anonymised and aggregated immunisation national data through the local health authorities (LHAs). Results were considered statistically significant at a two-tailed p-value ≤ 0.05. VC rates for mandatory vaccinations decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 (range of VC rate decrease: −1% to −2.7%), while chicken pox increased (+2.2%) in 7-year-old children. Recommended vaccinations were moderately affected (range of VC rate decrease in 2020 vs. 2019: −1.4% to −8.5%), with the exception of anti-HPV in males, Men ACWY, and anti-rotavirus vaccination (VC increase 2020 vs. 2019: +1.8%, +4.7% and +9.4%, respectively). In the COVID-19 era, the implementation of coherent, transparent, and effective communication campaigns and educational programs on safe childhood vaccinations, together with the increase in the number of healthcare staff employed, is essential to support strategies to reinforce vaccination confidence and behaviour, thus avoiding health threats due to VPD during and beyond COVID-19 times.

The Public Health Police

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Hoppe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hiv Positive ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Adherence To Treatment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Treatment Regimens ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Local Health Authorities

As the HIV epidemic wore on in the 2000s, public health authorities became enamored with the idea of “ending AIDS.” That is, if they could just get HIV-positive people to take their pills and stop infecting other people. Health departments began to track HIV-positive clients more closely, aiming to control their behavior and ensure their adherence to treatment regimens. This chapter explores how local health authorities ensure that HIV-positive clients behave in a manner officials deem responsible—and how they catch and punish those who do not. While the state maintains that the work of local health officials is done solely in the interests of promoting public health, their efforts to control HIV-positive clients reveal that they are also engaged in policing and law enforcement.

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