Evaluating Crisis Communication: A 30-item Checklist for Assessing Performance during COVID-19 and Other Pandemics

"By assessing how countries have reacted to this developing pandemic, the field of crisis communication enriches itself with new best practices."

In a pandemic such as COVID-19, the initial need is for crisis communication to inform and advise the public on necessary measures to prevent transmission and minimise the impact of the virus. But as COVID-19 progresses around the world, communication efforts are also needed in terms of citizens' resilience, (national) public leadership, and in communicating with stakeholders whose businesses are closed or suffering from lockdown situations. This paper proposes a framework to support evaluators in assessing efforts within a team or country and academics seeking to make worldwide comparisons between how crisis communication was carried out in affected countries. Specifically, it offers a conceptual checklist to assess crisis communication efforts during pandemics and in their aftermath.

In May 2020, the researcher conducted a literature review of articles on crisis communication during severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), swine flu, H1N1, Zika, Ebola, and/or COVID-19. The review of the 57 articles that emerged from this search and screening process led to the development of the Assessment tool for Crisis Communication during Pandemics (ACCP). It consists of 30 criteria, as outlined in Table 1 in the paper. The list is composed of items that fit in the following 5 domains, with one additional question:

• Sense making in times of crisis, which involves understanding public needs, defining communication goals, and enabling practitioners to feel better prepared for what lies ahead. "Sense making based on real-time monitoring gives crisis communication professionals a head-start to understand what people believe and set up rumor-rebuttal response strategies..." - Example question from the ACCP: To what extent was (social) media monitoring effective in assessing public needs, emotions, rumours, and the authority of the spokespersons involved?
• Public leadership in times of crisis, which means presidents and prime ministers "should be prepared to be exposed to searching questions" and "actively cooperate with their communication professionals." Furthermore, having a convincing storyline can help strategically prepare the public to participate in measures for prevention and containment. Leaders' messages should also "respond to the emotional needs of the threatened people...[,] show empathy with workers and express gratitude for the extra burden being imposed on them." - Example question from the ACCP: Did communication professionals enable public leaders to communicate the broader impacts of a crisis and the urgency of the situation at hand, taking into account cultural aspects and expectations?
• Public health professionals and experts, who "should clearly state what current policies are (both nationally and internationally) and provide facts to counter-attack myths and rumors..." - Example question from the ACCP: Did public health professionals manage to address uncertainty, without their authority being questioned?
• Interaction with stakeholders, which requires getting in touch and fine-tuning tasks and competencies across fields, including governmental parties, general practitioners, the media, laboratories and hospitals, and healthcare workers. - Example question from the ACCP: How did communication professionals cope with individual stakeholders with a strong, credible, and vocal presence in the public arena?
• Instructions to the public, which "must achieve a balance between an alarming tone of voice to convey urgency without frightening the public....Citizens need to be informed about a possible threat and its implications..., preferably with 'cues to action'. Public health organizations may consider shaping media coverage in such a way that it motivates appropriate public behavioral responses..." Example question from the ACCP: How were instructions communicated to audiences who could not be reached through mass media?
• Final question: Storytelling, which several researchers describe as having a "remarkable persuasive power to make people learn from crises" - From the ACCP: Could you provide an anecdote to share an important lesson with current or future colleagues that explains one or more insights you experienced in your role as a member of a crisis communication team?

The checklist "aims to enable crisis management evaluators to ask the right questions and evaluate the decisions made, taking into account the context and complexity at the time the crisis communication strategy was defined....Insight into how governments, citizens, businesses, and media have communicated during the pandemic may help to improve our learning from this crisis and support preparation for future pandemics." Further research is suggested to validate the ACCP in the context of COVID-19.