Overview

How policy makers, public health professionals, and other decision makers communicate to the public has major implications for health equity and behavior change. One major take-home message of COVID-19 is the importance of narratives spoken at the outset of a pandemic or public health policy campaign. If messaging is not tailored to, does not resonate with, or alienates subpopulations, the unintended consequences could be catastrophic. The strength-based approach of this project moves pandemic public health policy responses away from one-size-fits-all and deficit-savior models to just-in-time adaptively tailored communication and programming that recognizes risks, harnesses strengths, and uses precision prevention approach to identify modifiable targets. Using a rigorous recursive mixed methods design consisting of surveys and focus groups/interviews, this project will provide an evidence base for how families, youth, and childcare providers have and continue to cope with and adjust to the COVID-19. Findings will inform public health policy narratives and recommendation messaging for mental health and vaccine uptake, and identify modifiable targets for policies, programs, and practices to promote resilience and thriving.

Research Team

Jacinda K. Dariotis, Ph.D., MAS, Principal Investigator; Director and Endowed Chair, Family Resiliency Center
Liza Berdychevsky, Ph.D., Co-investigator; Associate Professor, Recreation, Sport and Tourism
Brenda Koester, M.S., Co-investigator; Associate Director, Family Resiliency Center
Brent McBride, Ph.D., Co-investigator; Director, Child Development Laboratory
Rebecca Smith, Ph.D., Co-investigator; Associate Professor, College of Medicine
Leona Yi-Fan Su, Ph.D., Co-investigator; Assistant Professor, Advertising
Ye Rang Park, Ph.D.; Research Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Dana Eldreth, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Human Development and Family Studies
Stephanie Sloane, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Human Development and Family Studies

Contact:
Dr. Jacinda Dariotis
217-244-6486
dariotis@illinois.edu

Funding

Institute for Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) Research Scholar Initiative Award