Module Key Takeaways

• One of the most important and effective interventions in public health response to any event is to proactively communicate What is known, What is unknown and What is being done to get more information with the objective of saving lives and minimizing adverse consequences.
• Different audiences have different priority information needs based on their relationships to the emergency. While the facts remain the same, you may need to adapt message delivery and context for different audiences to address cultural and accessibility needs.
• Rumours about a disease or social issue can have a big impact on people’s behaviour and beliefs; they can also provide valuable feedback about what information people are missing, haven’t understood well or what they think about you and the response.
• Community engagement in the context of COVID-19  is a process of developing relationships (characterized by respect, trust and a sense of purpose) that enable people of a community and organizations to work together to address COVID-19.
• The purpose of the RCCE message quality assurance checklist is to help determine whether the materials developed are easy to understand with full information and to improve the clarity of communication products.