COMMUNICATION AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CASE STUDY OF THE COMMUNICATION ADVISORY OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ESPÍRITO SANTO’S
Name: THAISA GUIMARAES CORTES
Publication date: 25/03/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ALINE GUIO CAVACA | Examinador Externo |
| EDSON THEODORO DOS SANTOS NETO | Examinador Interno |
| RAFAEL DA SILVA PAES HENRIQUES | Presidente |
Summary: This research in the field of Health Communication and Risk Communication has as its main
objective to understand how the Communication Advisory Office of the Government of Espírito
Santo’s Health Department positioned itself in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic through the
creation of risk communication strategies in 2020. The aim was to understand which risk
communication strategies with focus on health were developed that year and how they were
presented. During its development, it was decided to establish that the empirical work would
collect quantitative and qualitative information, through the analysis of the titles published on
the Sesa website in 2020, through the press conferences made available on the department's
official YouTube channel and through semi-structured interviews with Health Communication
professionals who worked that year helping to build communication strategies. To this end, the
research consisted of collecting data from a sample containing 244 titles, four press conferences
lasting more than 3 hours and interviews totaling more than 6 hours of conversation. To this
end, the first phase of the research was a bibliographical survey on the subject. Next,
information was gathered about the COVID-19 scenario, both epidemiological and regulatory
publications, in order to elucidate the context experienced that year, and finally to collect the
data. The data were processed and analyzed to carry out a triangulation of methods and the
construction-synthesis, seeking to understand which risk communication strategies with focus
on health were present. Through the construction-synthesis, it was found that not all strategies
are based on what the concept of Risk Communication proposes, especially the strategies
recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO), although some principles are present.
Keywords: Health Communication. Public Communication. COVID-19 pandemic.
Communication Consulting. Scientific Journalism
