VISUAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE CASE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Abstract

The world has faced several pandemics in its existence, but the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up new aspects, making it a good introduction to what could be explored in the field of visual health communication in times of global crisis when it matters most for the message to reach as many people as possible in as short a period as possible, and for as many people as possible to understand it. The initial analysis conducted in ISPJR showed that the official source/medium of information related to the conditions and measures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic was the official Facebook page of Minister of Health of Republic of Macedonia, and the digital posters worked as a tool for persuading citizens to behave responsibly. The sample consisted of digital posters that were posted from March 2020, and by the end of the year, a total of 113. As this research showed, the digital poster campaign focused on promoting disease prevention among the general population, as much as 93% of digital poster messages refer to this goal – what citizens can do to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus.
Answering the main research question of how the relevant official (domestic) institutions shape the message that aims to motivate the population to comply with their recommendations, it can be summarized that in Republic of Macedonia, through Facebook, on the official page of the then Minister of Health an incompletely properly prepared communication campaign and an incompletely defined communication strategy were conducted.