The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Regional Health Communicators Network (RHCN) recently welcomed Ms Shanika John as one of its newest members.
According to a post from the Ministry of Health, Ms John was in Kingston Jamaica for the Annual General Meeting of the Regional Health Communication Network (RHCN).
The event was aimed at improving members’ monitoring, evaluation, communication, education, and advocacy skills.
As part of the meeting, regional health promotion specialists and health communication personnel evaluated the lessons learned from COVID-19 communication interventions, public health emergencies, and systematic planning.
CARPHA’s Executive Director, Dr Joy St John – in a message delivered by the agency’s Corporate Services Director, Dr Mark Sami – applauded regional health communicators for supporting the regional response to COVID-19 by “delivering communications in a cutting-edge manner.”
She said the role of communicators in public health was underestimated for a long time, but COVID-19 illustrated their value.
“We saw how mis- and dis-information rode ahead of the waves of facts; We saw how messages needed to be carefully tailored to reach the right audiences; We saw how the timing of the release of information made it either more difficult or easier to manage the response; We saw how the same messages needed to be packaged differently at different stages of the pandemic. In fact, we saw many more ways that communication impacted people’s behaviour – all during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr St. John stated.
