(Dis)harmony in times of crisis? An analysis of COVID-related strategic communication by Swiss public health institutions

Objectives: This study aims to assess COVID-related communication by Swiss public health institutions (PHI) as well as the challenges they faced in implementing their communication strategies. Study design: This study uses a two-part mixed methods design, combining automated content analysis of press releases by PHI and semi-structured interviews with PHI communication experts. Methods: The automated content analysis uses natural language processing techniques to measure semantic themes and linguistic properties of 1882 press releases from national and regional PHI during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The semi-structured interviews with 25 communication experts from key PHI explore the challenges faced in implementing their communication strategies. Results: The content analysis reveals key themes in press releases, including non-pharmaceutical interventions, quarantine, testing, contact tracing, hospital situations, and the pandemic's impact on the economy. The linguistic measures indicated a decrease in complexity and readability over time, with no significant differences between national and regional PHI. Interviews revealed challenges arising from organizational structures, the multi-systemic nature of the pandemic, and from expectations of the public. Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of agility in public health communication and the need for efficient coordination within and between PHI. Organizational structures should be adapted to allow for more agile modes of operation during crises. Policymakers should clarify roles and responsibilities of different actors in public health frameworks to ensure streamlined communication. Understanding the communication efforts and challenges faced by PHI during the pandemic helps preparing for future health crises and improve public health communication practices. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).