Developing an Optimal Information and Communication Strategy to Deal with Threats in Healthcare: A View from the Perspective of Chinese Experience in Combating the Coronavirus Infodemic

Abstract

The rapid and large-scale dissemination of information these days has a dual effect when considered through the prism of global challenges in the field of healthcare: on the one hand, the dissemination of vital information is accelerating but, on the other hand, there remains a tendency toward deterioration in the quality of information and destabilization of public life due to modern information advances. Major public health emergencies are not only a matter of national health systems but also a matter of national management and modernization of national communication and management capacities. In this article, the author analyzes the fundamental factors from the history and social worldview of the Chinese that directly influence the media context of the reaction of the government and Chinese society to the coronavirus situation. The social worldview of representatives of Chinese society currently exists in a dynamically developing and heterogeneous (according to some scientists, transitional) context, which undoubtedly acts as a factor determining the development of social media. Respect for traditions and for a rational and harmonious social structure is intertwined with the development of individualism, modernization, and globalization. In this context, Chinese society is becoming more difficult to govern, particularly when faced with emergencies. China's experience in combating the infodemic and the mistakes made by the government allow us to identify some aspects of the optimal information and communication strategy in a situation of a threat in the field of healthcare.