Table 3

COVID-19 communication strategy and approaches

Target audience	Strategy	Goal	Approach
Clinical and non-clinical staff	Proactive risk communication and education	Allay fears and educate on IPC measures.	1. Transparent and direct communication from the senior leadership on: Commitment to staff safety. Major happenings and announcements about the pandemic. 2. Personalised emails and FAQs brochures
	Proactive risk communication and education	Dispel misinformation/myths and correct disinformation.	Staff meetings—opportunity for staff to ask direct questions
	Situational-based communication and education	Maintain open staff engagement with channels for feedback.	Transparent and direct communication from leadership and sharing of outbreak response plans as the pandemic evolves
	Situational-based communication and education	Equip all staff to receive up-to-date information.	Engage team leads via Q&A sessions who in turn hold similar sessions with their staff teams
Patients and general public	Proactive risk communication and education	Allay fears and equip visitors with correct information.	1. Transparent and direct communication on IPC measures 2. Visible flyers around the hospital for easy and quick reference 3. Provision of a list of answered FAQs through various media platforms Department-specific FAQs, for example, in oncology, paediatrics, geriatrics, pregnancy.
General public	Inform on preparedness and mitigation strategies	Inform on level of preparedness, allay fears, and dispel misinformation/myths and present correct information.	1. Press releases 2. Hotline contact numbers staffed by professionals 3. FAQs shared on various media platforms 4. Providing information about health-seeking alternatives such as telemedicine 5. Providing information on wellness, nutrition, psychological support and home-based care

FAQs, frequently asked questions; IPC, infection prevention and control; Q&A, question and answer.