A case study of community response to a health crisis from a communication perspective

Abstract

The city of Austin is a small community in Southern Indiana that experienced a large HIV/AIDS outbreak which infected over 180 people. Due to rapid spread of the disease from shared needles during intravenous drug use, a public health emergency was declared in March 2015. This epidemic was a symptom of the overall communal health issues within the area related to drugs, crime, prostitution and poverty. These problems affect residents’ physical and mental health, however, often go unaddressed due to limited resources, healthcare and education. Organizations within the area were affected by the epidemic, and many provided a response to help combat the issue. The purpose of this study is to examine how organizations respond to a health crisis from a communication perspective. Research question one is, what was the level of coordination between the seven organizations during the HIV/AIDS epidemic? Research question two is, what was the public’s response to the effort made by the seven organizations? This study interviewed seven participants and a thematic analysis was conducted that discovered four themes: coordinated response, uncoordinated activities, response time, and inadequate response. In response to research question one, the levels of coordination were infrequent with the seven agencies. Research question two found multiple areas that indicated the agencies approach ineffective in adequately informing the public. The agencies’ efforts displayed a lack of coordination and poor timely response to the crisis. These issues show it is imperative that we develop a resilient health system to operate systemically. By implementing communication for whole health, it would provide a resilient system for agencies to understand and develop coordination and collaboration between each other. With a sense of coordination, they would then be able to execute ways of promoting and living out better physical and mental health (Parrish-Sprowl and Parrish-Sprowl, 2016).