COVINFORM - SYNYO GmbH

COVINFORM: Podcast launched and analysis of pandemic memes published

SYNYO — Sun, 22 May 2022 08:35:24 +0000

COVINFORM

COVINFORM: Podcast launched and analysis of pandemic memes published

In January 2022, COVINFORM has launched a podcast which focuses on examining inequalities and impacts that pandemic response measures had on different social groups. So far, four episodes have been published. Research in the project is progressing well and partners have published an analysis of pandemic memes , as well as a report on the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers. The project team has also published two videos looking back at two years of the pandemic.

In order to disseminate results to a wider audience, COVINFORM has launched the podcast Beyond Numbers: COVID-19 and Society. Four episodes have been published so far. The first episode asks about the impact on vulnerable groups and how we can use the theory of intersectionality to understand the impact of different pandemic measures. The second episode focuses on risk communication, discussing inclusivity, good and bad practices. Episode three is dedicated to data, interpretation and misinformation, and the difficulty of dealing with an overwhelming amount of information. The fourth and – for now – last episode discusses inequality, particularly gender, mental health, and migration, and the differences in which the pandemic affected various populations in society. The podcast is available here, as well as on Spotify and iTunes.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers

The impact of the pandemic on healthcare workers has been dramatic. In Italy, 144,812 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in healthcare workers, out of which 1,444 were reported in October 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggested that worldwide 115,000 healthcare workers died from COVID-19 between January 2020 and May 2021. The unpreparedness of health systems worldwide has left HCWs exposed to a higher risk of contagion than the general population, enclosing them into a high vulnerability group. The sixth bi- monthly report of the COVINFORM summarizes the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers, including the psychosocial impact of the pandemic (such as insomnia). The report draws lessons learned and lists programmes that have been designed to mitigate the pandemic’s effect on healthcare workers. The report is available for download here.

Viruses of the mind. Coping and joking about COVID-19

Humour is a powerful coping mechanism. During this global health crisis with drastic effects, humour can lower the degree of negative emotions such as stress and hopelessness which often surround the pandemic (Olah & Ford 2021). A new report by the COVINFORM project presents outcomes of an explorative analysis of memes conducted in the context of the COVIFORM project. The aim was to gain an understanding of how humour was used to cope with the events of the pandemic and communicate with others, to share specific narratives, and comment on experiences during the pandemic. Whether addressing the current, uncertain situation, the behaviour of others, or the unfamiliar and restricting measures, internet memes are used to comment on experiences; they act as a “funhouse mirror for culture and society, reflecting and refracting the anxieties and preoccupations of a variety of social groups across a series of national contexts” (Miltner 2018, 413). Through their multimodal format, using both image and text, and through their popularity, memes can have an important role in establishing and maintaining discourse, driven by a need to express and reconstrue viewpoints (Dancygier & Vandelanotte 2017). Read the full report here.

Videos and other dissemination activities

Looking back at two years of pandemic, the project team has published two videos titled “After two years of the pandemic”, in which practitioner partners provide insights into their experiences of the pandemic, challenges they faced, and lessons learned. Furthermore, the project team has published a video called “Intersectionality and the COVID-19 pandemic”. This video sheds light on intersectionality theory and why this theory is useful to understand the unequal impacts of the pandemic on different groups in society. All videos are available on the project’s YouTube channel.

To increase outreach to wider audiences, COVINFORM has launched an Instagram channel, providing snippets and relevant insights in an appealing format. In terms of scientific outcome, a new publication focused on Migrants as vulnerable groups has been published by the University of Antwerp, available in full open access online.

Kick-off of the COVINFORM fieldwork & first physical meetings of the consortium

COVINFORM has kicked off its multi-national empirical research in ten target countries, starting with expert interviews with governmental and public health actors. This was followed by interviews with community actors, communication experts, and residents. The fieldwork, focusing on the pandemic responses in the domains of government, public health, community, and communication is complemented by case studies focusing on specific vulnerable groups.

To plan the complex fieldwork plan, work package leaders have met in a productive meeting in Rome, organised by the University of Rome La Sapienza. This was followed by a case study meeting in Vienna in March 2022, and a consortium meeting in Lisbon in May 2022.

References

Dancygier, B., & Vandelanotte, L. (2017). Internet memes as multimodal constructions. Cognitive Linguistics, 28(3), 565-598.

Miltner, K. M. (2018). Internet memes. The SAGE handbook of social media, 55, 412-428.

Olah, A. R., & Ford, T. E. (2021). Humor styles predict emotional and behavioral responses to COVID-19. HUMOR, 34(2), 177-199.

Links

https://covinform.eu/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rwiA2bNVRS2tRPVszdaXA

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321522000385?via%3Dihub

Keywords

COVID-19, corona, pandemic, disaster preparedness, inclusive communication, vulnerability, vulnerable groups

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COVINFORM: Joining forces with other disaster preparedness projects

SYNYO — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 09:55:35 +0000

COVINFORM

COVINFORM: Joining forces with other disaster preparedness projects

COVINFORM has joined forces with other projects focused on disaster resilience and preparedness. Participating in the PREPARE cluster, COVINFORM is now part of a group of ten projects tackling challenges specifically looking at the preparedness and response phases of crisis management. COVINFORM has published three more bi-monthly reports, a whitepaper on inclusive communication in times of crisis, and has participated in a webinar organised by the NO-FEAR project.

Emergency situations such as terrorism, international trade disputes and global health threats like the COVID-19 pandemic require large-scale planning for preparedness and response in order for countries to be able to cope with unforeseen challenges. The European Commission has recently funded several projects to work on different aspects of crisis management, many with a focus on managing pandemics. While each project has distinct aims and challenges, they all work towards a common goal.

It is for this reason that twelve EU-funded H2020 projects have united to form the PREPARE cluster: PREparedness and resPonse for emergency situAtions in euRopE. Each of the ten projects is tackling challenges specifically looking at the preparedness and response phases of crisis management and working together we aim to achieve stronger results and greater impact for our cause. Together CO-VERSATILE, COVID- X, COVINFORM, EUR3KA, LINKS, NO-FEAR, PANDEM-2, PERISCOPE, PHIRI, RiskPACC, STAMINA and STRATEGY explore synergies, research opportunities and deliver joint activities to maximise impact. Through mutual support, the cluster will strengthen our response to the ongoing crisis and our aim to be better prepared for future health crises.

A Glimpse of the Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The third bi-monthly report published by COVINFORM partners discusses the global methods for communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons learned from the communication vehicles are witnessed, leading to best practices and guidelines for improved communication in the future. These include, for example, the recognition of a need for risk communication before any crisis outbreak in preparing a continuous risk communication strategy. Once a pandemic or crisis occurs, tangible action must have already occurred to optimize resiliency. Since communication is a vast responsibility and requirement, it is imperative that a structure is nominated to coordinate, plan, and monitor the communication responses. The full report is available online.

Findings on the Governmental Responses in COVINFORM countries

Efficient and timely decision-making is essential when dealing with a health crisis. At the dawn of 2020, international institutions and national governments were up against the unprecedented COVID-19 health crisis. It is not an understatement to say that the established political system was tested during the last year and a half. COVINFORM’s fourth bi-monthly report summarizes the findings of the desk-based research that was conducted for the purposes of WP4 in the COVINFORM Project. An overall view of the Institutional and Government responses in the 14 target countries is provided in conjunction with several visual representations. Governmental bodies had to quickly adapt to the COVID-19 situation and make fundamental changes to their structure, policy making and communication mechanisms while implementing drastic measures to ensure the safety of their populations. The full report is available online.

Using an intersectional lens to understand the unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Since its emergence in December 2019, COVID-19 has had far-reaching consequences for societies around the globe. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic go far beyond physical health, impacting individuals’ and communities’ everyday lives and well-being, including in the domains of education, employment, family life, and mental health. However, the pandemic has not affected everybody’s lives in the same way. Indeed, the crisis has unfolded across pre-existing social fault lines in societies, exposing and exacerbating inequalities. COVINFORM’s fifth bi-monthly report provides an introduction to intersectionality theory (the theoretical basis of the project), highlighting its relevance for analyses of the COVID-19 pandemic. It then considers how exposure to COVID-19, as well as risk of severe disease and mortality, are shaped by pre-existing societal structures that give rise to specific inequalities. Subsequently, it presents examples of how responses to the COVID-19 crisis, such as mobility restrictions, school closures, and restrictions on events and businesses, have been experienced

differently depending on people’s positions in society. The full report is available online.

Whitepaper: inclusive communication in times of crisis

Further joining forces with other projects, COVINFORM has defined lessons learned and recommendations for inclusive communication in times of crisis together with the PROACTIVE project. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need for communication and information that can be accessed, understood and acted upon by all, including vulnerable groups who may be harder to reach. Due to the pandemic’s long-lasting nature and the fact that it has impacted all of society on a global scale, communication failures have been particularly visible. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an infodemic, i.e., an overwhelming amount of information including misinformation, leading to information overload, uncertainty, and avoidance behaviours. The disproportionate negative impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups, who to different extents have been excluded from accessing the communication designed to protect them, has led stakeholders across society (e.g., researchers and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)) to campaign for inclusive and accessible communication. The pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need for communication and information that can be accessed, understood and acted upon by all, including vulnerable groups who may be harder to reach. Achieving this requires a clear understanding of the information needs and concerns of different groups. Read the full whitepaper and the recommendations online.

Events, presentations and publications

Besides several articles on the COVINFORM blog, project partners have been active in presenting and discussing project outcomes. Some activities are listed below:

Joint webinar with NO-FEAR | Vaccination refusal among healthcare workers. In this webinar, partners discuss vaccination hesitancy among healthcare workers, delving into the different perspectives that underpin this apprehension. The webinar is available online.
Presentation “Analysing the impact of COVID-19 governmental response on vulnerable groups” at Empowering R&I collaboration to respond to the socio-economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic | 14.10.2021
Presentation “There is no one-size-fits-all where there is social inequality” at the 4th COVID-19 Research to Policy Meeting: COVID-19 social and behavioural studies | 20.10.2021
Webinar: The impact of Covid-19 and community responses | 29 April 2021 – presentation available for download

Partners have also published scientific and other publications:

Anson S., Bertel D., Edwards J. (2021) Inclusive Communication to Influence Behaviour Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examining Intersecting Vulnerabilities. In: Linkov I., Keenan J.M., Trump B.D. (eds) COVID-19: Systemic Risk and Resilience. Risk, Systems and Decisions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71587-8_13
Cerqua, A., Di Stefano, R., Letta, M., & Miccoli, S. (2021). Local mortality estimates during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Journal of Population Economics, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-021-00857-y
Horizon Magazine: How vulnerable groups were left behind in pandemic response – interview with Jil Molenaar, University of Antwerp

Links

https://covinform.eu/

Keywords

COVID-19, corona, pandemic, disaster preparedness, inclusive communication, vulnerability, vulnerable groups

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COVINFORM: Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 response on vulnerable groups.

SYNYO — Sat, 08 May 2021 13:34:59 +0000

COVINFORM

COVINFORM: Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 response on vulnerable groups.

Much has happened in the first six months of the COVINFORM project and good progress has been made. The consortium partners successfully finished the first phase of desk research of the project and published two bi-monthly reports on vaccination. Further, COVINFORM effectively implemented their dissemination strategy by publishing a social media campaign, multiple blog posts, as well as the first COVINFORM newsletter.

Since the project kick-off in November 2020, COVINFORM has progressed smoothly and without any delays. The consortium partners finished the first round of desk research focusing on: 1.) governmental and 2.) public health response as well as 3.) COVID-19 communication and misinformation and its impact on vulnerable groups in 15 countries within the EU27 MS, UK and Israel. In individual country reports, partners provided insights for each of the themes (government and public health response, communication and misinformation). An overarching discussion of cross-country comparison is currently under progress.

First project outcomes published

Communication and dissemination are key components of the COVINFORM project, particularly as the project also investigates misinformation in times of COVID-19. As such, the distribution of relevant and trustworthy information as well as project outcomes have high importance within the project. COVINFORM is aiming to reach a diverse audience by publishing information in various formats and through multiple channels. So far, the project produced two bi-monthly reports. Each of them broadly covered the theme of vaccination. More precisely, the first bi-monthly report engaged with the history of vaccines and provided an overview of the progress of COVID-19 vaccination development in January 2021. The second bi-monthly report published in March 2021 provided an update about the vaccination efforts and progress across the COVINFORM countries. The COVID-19 vaccination campaign of Israel has been widely recognized as one of the most effective around the world. To gain insight from the country’s efforts the report also included a written report by Magen David Adom (MDA) in Israeli as well as interview with Chaim Rafalowski, also from MDA, speaking about the Israeli vaccination campaign.

The COVINFORM team so far published ten blog post spanning topics such as the history of quarantine, the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, a meeting with COVINFORM sister projects or gender and Covid-19 response which are all accessible through the project’s website, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages. This was accompanied by a social media campaign in honour of the International Women’s day and the project’s first newsletter.

The first part of the COVINFORM Knowledge Repository also went online and can be found on the project’s website. The repository provides up-to- date information about a variety of topics related to COVID-19. Themes covered by the repository include: Scientific literature & other reading material, Initiatives, Projects, Events, Funding Opportunities and Communication & Misinformation. The Knowledge Repository will be regularly updated and extended.

Collaboration with other projects

COVINFORM successfully connected with its sister projects, i.e. those projects funded under the same call by the European Commission, PERISCOPE, RESPOND, SHARE-COVID and RESISTIRE. All projects are part of the same cohort focusing on behavioural, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak response. After an initial meeting, COVINFORM organised a workshop where the sister projects had the opportunity to introduce their projects and discuss issues related to vulnerability, socio-economic consequences, governance and dissemination more in-depth across all five projects. The aim of the cooperation of all five projects is to increase the impact our research may achieve.

Outlook: case study design underway

In the coming months the consortium will continue to conceptualise a framework for the ten case studies that will be conducted across the COVINFORM partner countries. Here, it is key to selected case studies and indicators in a way that research outcomes will be comparable across the different case study sites. The case study design will be based on the findings of the desk research on governmental and public health response as well as COVID-19 communication and misinformation which also will be finalised and published in the next couple of months.

Links

https://www.covinform.eu/

Keywords

Covid-19 response, Communication, Dissemination, Knowledge Repository, Social Media, Pandemic

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COVINFORM: Research project analysing the impact of COVID-19 governmental response on vulnerable groups

SYNYO — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 09:11:29 +0000

COVINFORM

COVINFORM: Research project analysing the impact of COVID-19 governmental response on vulnerable groups

Since its outbreak in Europe in February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on societies. Vulnerable groups have been impacted disproportionately. Even in countries with well-developed responses, the outbreak and its repercussions imperil the basic well-being of social groups whose livelihoods are already precarious, while the uneven distribution of suffering threatens to aggravate inequality and division. COVINFORM analyses and critiques COVID-19 responses on the levels of government, public health, community, and information and communications.

Since COVID-19 emerged in December 2019, it has had a nearly unprecedented global social, behavioural and economic impact. The effects of COVID-19 go far beyond physical health, impacting on “everyday life” and well-being, mental health, education, employment, and political stability. Policymakers and public health experts unanimously recognise the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable persons.

“COVINFORM. COronavirus Vulnerabilities and INFOrmation dynamics Research and Modelling” is a three-year, EU-funded research and innovation project with the goal to conduct research on COVID-19 responses on three levels:

developing risk assessment models based on available quantitative data at the European level,
analysing documentary sources on both national and local level in 15 chosen countries,
conducting primary empirical research in ten target communities, gathering testimonials and analysing a multitude of sources to get a full picture of the effect of the governmental response to COVID-19 on individuals within the target communities.

COVINFORM draws upon intersectionality theory (Crenshaw 1982) and complex systems analysis (Poledna et al. 2020) in an interdisciplinary critique of COVID-19 responses on the levels of government, public health, community, and information and communications. Promising practices are evaluated in target communities through case studies spanning diverse disciplines and vulnerable populations.

COVINFORM is one of 23 projects funded by the European Commission with a total of €128 million to address the continuing coronavirus pandemic and its effects.

A multidisciplinary approach to analyse pandemic response

COVINFORM’s multidisciplinary and intersectional approach will examine how vulnerability is defined and addressed (if at all) in COVID-19 responses from government, public health, community, and communication perspectives. The project will also examine the impact that different national, regional, and local responses have had on vulnerable and marginalised groups, and view these impacts through an intersectional lens to understand how different factors interconnect, potentially further increasing vulnerability and marginalisation.

Based on the outcomes of these research activities, COVINFORM will develop solutions, guidelines and recommendations to ensure that the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups are appropriately considered in potential further waves of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

The project will also assess secondary data on national-level responses which it will then harmonise and analyse. Primary data will be collected on sub-national responses in selected European regions. The data will be indexed and modelled, aiming to create an interactive Knowledge Repository.

In the project’s multidisciplinary approach, it combines expertise in sociology, public health, emergency medicine, psychology, migration studies, anthropology, epidemiology, virology, gender studies, economics, risk communication, communication science & journalism, crisis management, ethical and social impact assessments, political science, and human geography.

A collaboration of practitioners and researchers

COVINFORM has a complementary consortium of 17 partners, bringing together practitioners and academic/research partners. Magen David Adom in Israel, Samur Proteccion Civil, University Cattolica Desl Sacre Cuore, the Austrian Red Cross, Media Diversity Institute and the Romanian Red Cross provide the much-needed insight into pandemic response from a practitioner perspective. SINUS Markt- und Sozialforschung, Trilaterial Research, the Center for Security Studies, Factor Social, University of Antwerp, Sapienza University of Rome, University Rey Juan Carlos, Swansea University, and Gotenborg University carry out the scientific analysis and research activities of the project. The project is coordinated SYNYO, who also leads WP7 on inclusive communication for behaviour changes, as well as the communication activities of the project.

References

[1] Crenshaw, K. (1982). “Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex – A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989: pg. 139-167.

[2] Poledna, S., Rovenskaya, E., Dieckmann, U., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., and Linkov, I. (2020). Systemic risk emerging from interconnections: The case of financial systems. In Hynes, W., Lees, M. and Müller, J.M. (eds.), Systemic thinking for policy making: The potential of systems analysis for addressing global policy challenges in the 21st century, pg. 123-131. New Approaches to Economic Challenges, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/879c4f7a-en.

Links

https://www.covinform.eu/

Press Release: https://www.covinform.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2020/11/COVINFORM-Press-release-Project-Launch.pdf

EC Press Release: https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/coronavirus-eu128-million-granted-research-address-pressing-needs-and-socio-economic-impact-pandemic-2020-nov-05_en

https://twitter.com/COVINFORM_EU

Keywords

COVID-19, disaster, pandemic, vulnerability, intersectionality, complex systems

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Launching COVINFORM, a project analysing the impact of COVID-19 governmental response on vulnerable groups

SYNYO — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 12:34:54 +0000

COVINFORM

A project analysing the impact of COVID-19 governmental response on vulnerable groups

Since its outbreak in Europe in February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on societies. Vulnerable groups have been impacted disproportionately: even in countries with well-developed responses, the outbreak and its repercussions imperil the basic well-being of social groups whose livelihoods are already precarious, while the uneven distribution of suffering threatens to aggravate inequality and division. COVINFORM analyses and critiques COVID-19 responses on the levels of government, public health, community, and information and communications.

Read the full press release here

Visit our Project Website

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