COVID-19
We hope that you find this page useful to find and share resources for healthcare
communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a challenging time for all of us, particularly those working in
healthcare professions whether that be in practice, teaching, research or policy.
This page points you to existing resource, EACH resources and also opportunities where you can share your
experience or concerns within our friendly & supportive community. We are here for you.
EACH Resources
Below are a list of resources that have been developed by and/or in collaboration with EACH. This list will be updated continually with new resources.
Communication skills for staff wearing
Personal Protective Clothing (PPE)
The Global COVID 19 pandemic has affected how both patients and clinicians experience face-to-face consultations.
This provides guidance on communicating with patients whilst wearing PPE.
Developed by:
Top tips for delivering communication
skills teaching online
To help in these challenging times EACH has put together a series of practical guides aimed at helping teachers of healthcare communication, simulated patients and learners consider the challenges and potential adaptations for online communication skills teaching:
Teachers | Students | Simulated Patients | ALOBA Framework | Full Guide
Developed by:
Sandra Winterburn, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia & Marcy Rosenbaum University Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Please click here for video clips giving examples of online communication skill teaching.
Tips for communicating with patients via email consultation
The Covid-19 pandemic has made email consultations more pertinent. This sheet outlines tips and key recommendations for email consultation use for healthcare professionals.
Developed by:
Jane Ege Møller, Aarhus University, Helen Atherton, Warwick Medical School & Matilde Nisbeth Brøgger, Aarhus University.
E-learning course: Communication skills for telephone consultations
E-learning course: Communication skills for video consultations
Many healthcare staff are now carrying out consultations on the telephone and video. This is often a type of consultation that staff have not encountered prior to COVID-19 and can be an area of anxiety.
This course demonstrates how applying the core skills of the Calgary-Cambridge Guide to telephone and video consultations provides a structured and patient-centred approach. We hope you find these online learning packages useful.
These were developed by:
Telehealth tip sheet for phone & video consultations
This tip sheet emphasizes both communication & workflow issues.
Developed by:
Kelly Skelly & Marcy Rosenbaum from University Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Calgary-Cambridge guides on telephone consultations & difficult conversations
These two documents aim to support clinicians working in the current COVID-19 crisis.
They have been designed to work well on mobiles with an interactive contents page so you can refresh knowledge just before a particular task.
Developed in partnership with the Irish Health Service (HSE)
Resource list – How to teach online
Below is a list of categorised resources, which we have summarised briefly to help you see at a glance which might be useful for you.
This list will be continually updated with new resources.
If you have a resource that you think would be useful for us to share please upload this on the public forum.
All resources will be vetted before being published and we will only be sharing those directly related to healthcare communication
Communication Teaching during COVID-19
A bibliography from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) of distance and online learning resources for teaching communication with simulated patients
Distance Learning and telehealth teaching resources.
University of Minnesota Webinar recording: Zooming with SPs in COVID-19 Response: Using Zoom to train Standardized Patients (SPs) and implement formative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCEs) with health science students.
Virtual OSCE guides for students, SPs and monitors from Northwestern University Fineberg School of Medicine.
Association of American Medical Colleges resources on Clinical Teaching and Learning Experiences without Physical Patient Contact including teaching about Interpersonal and Communication Skills.
Credible information resource during covid-19
The Frontiers Coronavirus Knowledge Hub provides an up to date source of trusted information and analysis on COVID-19 and coronaviruses, including the latest research articles, information and commentary.
Frontiers Coronavirus Knowledge Hub
An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst (NEJM Catalyst) – At the Epicentre of the Covid-19 Pandemic and Humanitarian Crisis in Italy: Changing Perspectives on Preparation and Mitigation, Nacoti et. al.
Communicating with patients and families during COVID-19
Our sister organisation, Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH) has put together a selection of communication tools, member stories & support for well-being.
VitalTalk has created a playbook with tips on how to sustainably communicate with honesty, empathy and compassion. This link enables you to view the playbook in different languages.
WONCA have a series of articles relevant to family doctors as well as links to the World Health Organisation and other reputable websites which contain valuable information for family doctors having to deal with COVID-19 cases.
Drawing attention to difficulty of controlling fake news during an epidemic.
How to communicate with families living in compete isolation. Paper from Giulia Lamiani and Colleagues and approved by the main Italian societies of Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine and Palliative Care (SIAARTI, ANIARTI, SICP and SIMEU).
Communicating Covid-19 issues to people with Intellectual Disability and/or Autism resource.
A book with explanation of Covid19 for children. A nice way to explain it.
WHO Social media cards are meant for for healthworkers: for sharing on their social media channels.
COVID-19 communication research
To help find publications about COVID-19 and communication between patients and healthcare professionals, including information for patients / public from healthcare professionals.
Authors: Arwen H Pieterse (rEACH) and Jan Schoones (librarian Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands)
Improving Communication about COVID-19 and Other Emerging Infectious Diseases. Jacobsen KH & Vraga EK
Misinformation of COVID-19 on the Internet: Infodemiology Study. Cuan-Baltazar JY, Muñoz-Perez MJ, Robledo-Vega C, Pérez-Zepeda MF, Soto-Vega E
Coronavirus: the spread of misinformation. Milan A & Khan S
Data Mining and Content Analysis of Chinese Social Media Platform Weibo During Early COVID-19 Outbreak: A Retrospective Observational Infoveillance Study. Li J, XuQ, Cuomo R, Purushothaman V, Mackey T
Unpacking the black box: How to promote citizen engagement through government social media during the COVID-19 crisis. Chen Q, Min C, Zhang W, Wang G, Ma X, Evans R
Social Media Spread During COVID-19: The Pros and Cons of Likes and Shares. O’Brien M, Moore K, McNicholas F
Preventative Behaviours Conveyed on YouTube to Mitigate Transmission of COVID-19: Cross-Sectional Study. Basch CH, Hillyer GC, Meleo-Erwin ZC, Jaime C, Mohlman J,, Basch CE
Use of Handheld Transceiver for Hospital Healthcare Workers-Caregiver Communication During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Pediatric Emergency Department. Curatola A, Ferretti S, Gatto A, Chiaretti A
Maintaining Our Humanity Through the Mask: Mindful Communication During COVID-19. Schögl M, Jones C
Crisis Symptom Management and Patient Communication Protocols Are Important Tools for All Clinicians Responding to COVID-19. Bowman BA, Esch AE, Back AL, Marshall N
Community pharmacists and communication in the time of COVID-19: Applying the health belief model. Carico RR, Sheppard J, Thomas CB
Protecting the psychological health of children through effective communication about COVID-19. Dalton L, Rapa E, Stein A
Applying Palliative Care Principles to Communicate with Children about COVID-19. Weaver MS & Wiener L
Understanding COVID-19 risk perceptions among the public to enhance risk communication efforts: a practical approach for outbreaks, Finland. Lohiniva AL, Sane J, Sibenberg K, Puumalainen T, Salminen M
Use of Rapid Online Surveys to Assess People’s Perceptions During Infectious Disease Outbreaks: A Cross-sectional Survey on COVID-19. Geldsetzer P
COVID-19: Peer Support and Crisis Communication Strategies to Promote Institutional Resilience. Wu AW, Connors C, Everly GS Jr
A Mobile Health Platform to Disseminate Validated Institutional Measurements During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Utilization-Focused Evaluation Study. Zamberg I, Manzano S, Posfay-Barbe K, Windisch O, Agoritsas T, Schiffer E
Strategies for Disseminating and Implementing COVID-19 Public Health Prevention Practices in Rural Areas. Prusaczyk B
Effective Risk Communication for Public Health Emergency: Reflection on the COVID-19 Outbreak in Wuhan, China. Zhan L, Li H, Chen K
Limited early warnings and public attention to COVID-19 in China, January – February 2020: a longitudinal cohort of randomly sampled Weibo users. Zhu Y, Fu KW, Grépin KA, Liang H, Fung IC
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
Blocking information on COVID-19 can fuel the spread of misinformation. Larson HJ
Evidence informing the UK’s COVID-19 public health response must be transparent. Alwan NA et. al.
Applications of google search trends for risk communication in infectious disease management: A case study of COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. Husnayain A, Fuad A, Su EC
COVID-19: Real-time dissemination of scientific information to fight a public health emergency of international concern. Song P, Karako T
Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19. Calisher C et. al.
A paper about improving risk communication to family physicians during public health crises.
This is a database of worldwide funding opportunities for research and development that is compiled by Science|Business and is updated on a daily basis.
Lessons learned
A viewpoint from Italy showing that in order to avoid collapse, healthcare systems need to have collaborative emergency networks, as simply increasing ICU capacity is not enough.
EACH searchable resources database
We have a wealth of resources available to EACH members, with many also open to the public.
Please follow this link to search our database. Do you have a resource you think others would benefit from using?
Please upload it onto the database following the links provided.
Submit a request for a resource you require
Are you struggling to find the resource that you need to help you during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Have you searched our resource database & this page to see if something here could help you?
Still not found what you need? Click here to submit a request. We will do our best to find or create what you ask for.
Join the Discussion
Join the forum discussion on Covid-19 and other topic here
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