LiderCom: “How is the communication of the health sector responding to the Covid-19 crisis?”

The challenge of ensuring correct information in the middle of a pandemic was the subject of the discussion

LiderCom, a group of communication leaders organized by Aberje, held on April 9, a virtual meeting to evaluate the communication of the health sector in the face of the covid-19 crisis. Anna Carolina Costa, Senior Communication analyst at Hospital São Lucas – PUCR; Regina Moura, director of Digital and Corporate Communication at Roche Brasil; Thais Arruda, Communication Superintendent at SulAmerica Seguros; Vanderlei França, Communication Coordinator at the Coronavirus Contingency Center of the Sao Paulo State Health Department; and journalist Malu Weber participated in the meeting.

Franca, from the São Paulo Department of Health, defined pandemic and disinformation as the two greatest challenges to be faced. According to the official, the communication center created by the Government of the State of São Paulo to combat one piece of fake news per hour. “When there is a speech that impairs communication regarding a drug, for example, it is not a political issue, but a technical and practical one,” he said.

“People are looking for answers to something that most of them don’t know. In general, people are very insecure. At Roche, we do not have answers for everything, but we propose to be transparent”, said Regina Moura, from Roche Brasil, recognizing the vulnerability of companies.

Anna Carolina Costa, from São Lucas Hospital – PUCRS, stressed that the campaign is an open movement for other hospitals that want to participate. “The focus is on the mental health of employees who are on the front line, insecure and very sensitive. This campaign is also driving our leadership and the direction of these hospitals to look at their employees with more empathy ”, said Costa, adding that the hospital offers on-line psychological and psychiatric monitoring to its nurses and technicians 24 hours a day.

Thaís Arruda, from SulAmerica Seguros, informed that the company already had a crisis committee and a business continuity plan before the coronavirus crisis. “Our multidisciplinary group meets daily, and it makes all the difference when the company has people focused on understanding how the plan works,” she said. Another point presented during the meeting was related to the protocols of mourning and death, a subject that is difficult to address by the companies’ communication area. Paulo Nassar, CEO of Aberje and professor at ECA-USP, raised the issue: “Who’s watching the communication on this?” As Malu Weber emphasized, this is a problematic humanitarian issue for companies. “Grief is a topic to be discussed, and the Communication area should help in this construction.”