The Three Rs of Fear Messaging in a Global Pandemic: Recommendations, Ramifications and Remediation has been declared the Top Viewed paper in the 2024 volume of Clincial Psychology & Psychotherapy, based on access counts in the 12 months from first publication.
Authors: Laura Dodsworth | Gemma Ahearne | Robert Dingwall | Lucy Easthope | Michael Riordan | Ellen Townsend
Summary
- Despite an evidence-base suggesting fear should not be used in pandemics, widespread fear messaging was recommended by UK government advisors and was used to try to effect behaviour change during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The mass invocation of fear should not have been used in the COVID-19 pandemic and it should not be used in future pandemics.
- Expertise should be drawn from a much wider range of disciplines to advise governments in future pandemics, especially from the social sciences, to help avoid the harms inflicted through COVID-19 policies.
- Involving the public in decision-making using meaningful PPIE should be done now, especially with young people, to avoid repeating the mistakes made in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Available Open Access at https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2972
This paper has acquired a new resonance with the current media coverage of the hantavirus and ebola outbreaks. Have UK media learned anything from the criticism of their coverage of Covid-19?