The 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Response: Public Information and Crisis Communication in North Carolina

The year 2009 played host to the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, an event public health officials had been preparing for over the past several years. As with any emergency situation, the events did not unfold as was expected or exercised, and plans had to be adjusted to meet the situation at hand. However, planning efforts did prepare officials to meet those challenges head on, adapting and responding to the best of their ability. As the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic evolved, the importance of public information and communication was recognized with a focus on emergency risk communication. In order to enhance efforts and minimize the potential devastation caused by impending and more severe pandemics, this study will aim to identify the best practices and lessons learned during the H1N1 communication campaign through an examination of local and national media coverage and an assessment of local public health public information response efforts in North Carolina (N.C.). This assessment, in conjunction with a detailed literature review provided evidence for the following recommendations: Expand the Local Information Team (LIT) concept within N.C. public health at the regional and state level: By opening the lines of communication through a regional and statewide LIT effort, public health public information officers can share response efforts, create joint messages, and provide consistency across the state. Get ahead of the media: The media set the tone of the response in May 2009 and was able to sensationalize the pandemic and frame communication, creating challenges for communicators. Public health officials should work to provide proactive, tone-setting, and educational messages from the onset of any event. Expand media relationships: Local, state, and federal public health officials need to work together to expand media relationships and align messages. Public Information and Crisis Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) courses should integrate health education practice and CERC principles: By aligning health education and crisis communication theory and practice, public health professionals will exercise these resources daily and become more comfortable with their use. Utilize web-based resources and social media to expand reach: Even though traditional media sources and communication efforts are extremely important, it will become increasingly vital for local public health agencies to use and become comfortable with web-based communication and social media to expand educational reach. Expand targeted messaging: Individuals have specific communication needs, and effective messages are matched to audience needs, values, backgrounds, culture, and experience. Public health officials should work to understand the populations they serve by listening to their informational needs in order to create a more robust communication system through targeted messages. Through greater community coordination, enhanced media partnerships, the synchronization of health education and crisis communication theory, and the alignment of local, regional, state, and national public information efforts, public health and its response partners can and will provide transparent, consistent, and timely messages to protect the health and well­ being of all citizens. As a result, individuals will be empowered to make informed decisions based on the communication and education process in their communities.Master of Public Healt