Less than an hour ago I forwarded tan In.Comms article to HIFA. I made the counterargument that there is indeed a place for comms from the heart as well as comms from the brain. The challenge is to use these appropriately.
Personally I have been hugely impressed by the communication skills of the current WHO Director-General Dr Tedros. of course it wouldn't be humanly possible for him to produce all his communications single-handed, and so credit also goes to all those who support him.
So I was interested to read just now the latest communication from Dr Tedros, which I think proves my point. Below are the opening lines and the full text is available here: https://hq_who_departmentofcommunications.cmail20.com/t/d-e-guukril-hldd...
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Message by the WHO Director-General to the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
To the people of DRC, especially to the people of Ituri
Jambo kwenu wakahaji wa Ituri
Mbote na bino, bato ya Ituri
My name is Tedros, and I am the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). But today, I am not writing to you as an official. I am writing to you as someone who knows your region, who has walked your streets, and who cares deeply about what happens to you and your families.
I am writing because I want to be with you in these moments. And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Ebola is not new to me personally. From 2018 to 2020, I came fourteen times to North Kivu, the epicentre of the outbreak at that time. Fourteen visits to Beni, Butembo, Katwa, Goma, and many other communities. During that outbreak, Ebola spread across North Kivu, South Kivu, and reached parts of Ituri as well. I was alongside families who had lost their loved ones. I met health workers risking their lives every day. I met community leaders, traditional healers, religious leaders and business leaders who refused to abandon their people. I saw men and women show extraordinary courage in the most difficult of circumstances. The people there, who saw me coming back again and again, wanted to give me a name that belonged to their community. They asked me whether I was the first, second, or third child of my parents. When I told them I was the firstborn, they gave me the name Dr. Paluku. I carry that name with pride. It is not just a name. It is a bond. It is a reminder that this work is not about titles or institutions. It is about people. It is about you....
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There is absolutely a place for comms from the heart. Using the brain alone is adequate for some typs of communication as we discussed in my last message.
Of course we should never lose our head and we should speak truth (and uncertainty) with humility and compassion, but we also need to use our heart where appropriate. Especially now when significant numbers are losing trust in science and trust in health authorities.
Comms should come from the brain and the heart.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org