Impacts of Air Pollution on Health and Cost of Illness in Jakarta, Indonesia

## **"Champions in Action": Resilience-Building Through a Novel Approach for Communication during the COVID-19 Pandemic**

#### **Priyanga Ranasinghe and Hemantha Herath**

Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Ministry of Health, Colombo, Sri Lanka

COVID-19 is a multi-faceted global crisis in the new millennium. Pandemic fatigue impacts the majority, making them less confident in their role in controlling virus transmission. People were more resistant to

hearing advice from experts on public health measures during the fatigue phase of the pandemic. Thus, novel participatory approaches for communication were much needed to combat COVID-19. The objective of this project was to build health and socioeconomic resilience among the public through community-led communication and sharing their own success stories during the pandemic. Nominations were obtained by grassroots level health workers and self-nominators through a pre-advertised telephone number. "Champions" were selected based on random observations and in-depth interviews. Representation of different socioeconomic backgrounds was ensured. Three experts representing relevant locality, the Ministry of Health, and the media were involved in the selection process. A news segment was designed and telecasted regularly over three months in a government media channel to introduce the "champions of new normalcy" and utilize them as change agents to the community; it was telecasted from December 2020 for more than three months regularly. Two minutes of prime-time news was dedicated to this segment. It was marketed as a new year's gift for 2021 from the Ministry of Health and the government media channel to the Sri Lankans. Resilient occupational settings and individuals who successfully continued their economic activities using innovative approaches were identified and introduced. This was an opportunity to share their real experience of "successful change" and its benefits with the public. The news segment was published as "Rise again 2021–move forward with confidence" ("Yali nagitimu 2021, Vishvasayen Perata"). The message was well-received by the public, and the participants were identified as heroes within their community. The feedback from the participants confirmed an increase in their customer base after the program and was accepted as a healthy setting by the community. The proposed model can be identified as one of the best practices in Sri Lanka, shifting the communication strategies from one-way communication at the initial stages of the pandemic towards community-led communication during the pandemic fatigue.

Priyanga Ranasinghe and Hemantha Herath

Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Ministry Of Health, Colombo, Sri Lanka

#### Results


#### Strengths


Conclusions

• The proposed and tested model is an innovative, well-accepted, motivational communication approach involving resilient people during

pandemic as "change agents".

• It is identified as one of the best practices of RCCE in Sri Lanka, shifting the communication strategies from one-way communication in the initial stages of the pandemic towards community engagement and

participatory approaches during the pandemic

fatigue stage.

Acknowledgements: Former chairman of SLRC, Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka, News Director, Indika Marasinghe, and the News crew of SLRC and regional reporters of SLRC who supported with camera and video processes.

#### Introduction


#### Objective

• To build health and socioeconomic resilience among the public through community-led communication and sharing their own success stories during the pandemic.

#### Methodology: Sample Selection

• People and occupational settings were selected in two steps:

#### Step 1

1.Nominations from grassroots-level health workers;

2.Self-nominators through a pre-advertised telephone number;

3.Random observation of communities/in- depth interviews.

### Step 2

A team of three experts representing the relevant locality, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the media visited these places to finalize a "Champion" of new normalcy.

### Project Implementation

