Dialogical Health Communication via Twitter (X) During COVID-19 in African Countries: Ghana as a Case Study

Yasmin Aldamen () and Amina Abdallah
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Yasmin Aldamen: Department of Journalism, Media, and Digital Communication, Faculty of Arts, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Amina Abdallah: Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, School of Communication, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul 34480, Türkiye

World, 2024, vol. 5, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Social media platforms, such as Twitter (X), have a critical role in disseminating health information. The study aims to highlight the potential of Twitter (X) as an influential tool for health communication, in addition to providing findings related to public health communication strategies in Ghana. The study investigated the role of Twitter (X) as a platform for building interactive health communication between the health communication system and citizens in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2022. Additionally, it has the potential to contribute to building dialogical health communication. The study analyzed a sample of COVID-19-related tweets from the official Ghana Health Service Twitter (X) account @_GHS from 2020 to 2022. The results showed that Twitter (X) was a key tool for health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, with both health institutions and the public sharing large amounts of health information. Furthermore, the study found evidence of dialogic communication, in which healthcare institutions and professionals are actively engaging with the public on Twitter (X). It concluded that public health communication on Twitter (X) has changed over time, as well as that the interactive health communication between the health communication system and citizens in Ghana was affected positively during the COVID-19 outbreak. It highlighted Twitter (X)’s potential as a tool for establishing a dialogue loop and building dialogic health communication. The results showed that before COVID-19, Ghana did not use Twitter (X) effectively to communicate with citizens about health matters. Twitter (X), with its wide reach and highly interactive nature through features such as retweets, has become a major platform for interactions facilitating dialogue between health institutions and health professionals and facilitating dialogue in public spaces surrounding health issues like COVID-19.

Keywords: public health communication; COVID-19; Twitter (X); Ghana health service; crisis communication; dialogic communication; dialogic loop (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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