Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. According to the chief executive, Hong Kong is
at war with Covid-19. Without a doubt, the situation requires our collective attention and action if we are to protect the most vulnerable members of society. To achieve this, we must consider how best to encourage effective action by community members and how to do so while preserving everyone’s mental health.
A group of us from the Experimental Psychopathology Lab at the University of Hong Kong recently conducted a study where participants read different kinds of Covid-related news articles. Our intention was to examine how to encourage the Hong Kong public to engage in healthy behaviours – for example, wearing masks and washing hands – without making them worry to the extent that their mental health is compromised.
People were more likely to say they would engage in healthy behaviours when they read news articles that emphasised the number of mild or asymptomatic cases present in the community. These articles also presented healthy behaviours that people could use to reduce their risk while also debunking myths such as the likelihood of infection from
commercial packaging. Each of these things gave people the sense that, although there is risk of infection, there are things that they could do to protect themselves and vulnerable people in their community.
Other participants in our study read news articles that emphasised case and mortality data. These “threat-focused” articles also discussed ways infection could be acquired – such as
touching lift buttons – without talking about the steps people can take to mitigate infection. These news articles discouraged participants and made them feel like the risks of Covid-19 were unmanageably high.
Scaring people with talk of war is unlikely to encourage action and could exacerbate the mental health crisis already present in Hong Kong. Instead, members of the government and media should be empowering people with the belief that the risks they face are manageable and that each of us possesses the power to protect ourselves and our loved ones through effective, science-based action.
