It is widely believed that effective communication is critical for the containment of the spread of emerging infectious diseases. Various media outlets and studies have pointed out communication failure as one of the key components that contributed to the wide and rapid spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in South Korea. To address these concerns, we first outline the definitions of risk and crisis communication and why they are important. We then illustrate communication models and guidelines utilized in three organizations (World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UK Public Health England) for health or disaster control. By analyzing the current guidelines for infectious diseases in South Korea and they were actually applied during the Middle East respiratory syndrome situation, we will assess what went wrong and what went right. Finally, we will suggest various measures that will help to ensure similar tragedies do not happen again.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Communicable Diseases ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Containment of Biohazards ; Coronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections ; Disasters ; Korea ; Middle East ; Public Health*

This experimental study examined differences in doctor-patient relationships according to the health communication strategies during cases of medical malpractices occurred at primary medical institution. A total of 116 subjects aged in their 20s-50s was sampled. The first medical malpractice scenario chosen was the medical malpractice case most frequently registered at the Korean Medical Association Mutual Aid and the second scenario was associated with materials and devices as the cause of malpractice. Four types of crisis communication strategy messages were utilized, consisting of denial, denial + ingratiation, apology, and apology + ingratiation. Subjects were classified into four research groups by crisis communication strategy to measure levels of trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction, before and after the occurrence of medical malpractice and application of communication strategies. The findings of this study revealed that the apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, showed a smaller difference before and after the application of communication strategies in all variables of trust (F = 8.080, F = 5.768), control mutuality (F = 8.824, F = 9.081), commitment (F = 9.815, F = 8.301), and satisfaction (F = 8.723, F = 5.638). Further, a significant interaction effect was shown between variables. The apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, was effective in the improvement of doctor-patient relationships in both Scenarios I and II. For Scenario I, the apology strategy without ingratiation boosted commitment and satisfaction, but for Scenario II, utilizing the apology strategy with ingratiation boosted the effectiveness of trust and commitment.
Adult ; Female ; *Health Communication ; Humans ; Male ; Malpractice ; Middle Aged ; Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Patient Satisfaction ; Physician-Patient Relations ; Program Evaluation ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Trust