The COVID-19 Message Toolkit

This Message Toolkit was designed to help the Department of Health (DOH) staff, local government stakeholders, non-government organizations, international organizations and others to communicate consistently and effectively about COVID-19. It is a one-stop-shop for all messages about COVID-19.

The messages here have been reviewed and approved by the Department of Health (DOH).

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, Philippines Department of Health

Date of Publication: April 12, 2021

Guide for the Preparation of a Risk Communication Strategy for COVID-19 Vaccines: A Resource for the Countries of the Americas

This document was created to facilitate the preparation of a risk communication and community engagement strategy for vaccination against COVID-19.

Its goal is to help to strengthen the communication and planning capacities of the ministries or secretariats of health and other agencies in charge of communicating about new COVID-19 vaccines in the Americas.

It also includes a matrix for the preparation of a risk communication strategy for COVID-19 vaccines.

Source: PAHO

Date of Publication: March 18, 2021

Awareness of COVID-19 for Pharmacy Professionals – Community Pharmacy Interventions

In an effort to expand public efforts to arrest the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) collaborated with mClinica, an Asian regional tech startup that develops and operates mobile platforms, to build the capacity of the pharmacy workforce in the Philippines to communicate effectively with customers about COVID-19.

This partnership developed two solutions to strengthen pharmacy capacity to be sources of reliable COVID-19 information and communication : (1) run awareness campaigns to promote COVID-19 best practices and prevention for pharmacy professionals and the patients they serve through SwipeRx, the largest social network of pharmacies in Southeast Asia using their social media platforms and mobile application; and (2) provide continuing professional development (CPD) education modules to pharmacy professionals using SwipeRx app covering topics on COVID-19 etiology, method of transmission, best practices, and health system framework currently in place to tackle COVID-19 (i.e., health facilities to get diagnosed when COVID-19 infection is suspected, etc.)

These materials were created for community pharmacy interventions:

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: March 17, 2021

Awareness of COVID-19 for Pharmacy Professionals – Patient Isolation and Patient Pathway

In an effort to expand public efforts to arrest the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) collaborated with mClinica, an Asian regional tech startup that develops and operates mobile platforms, to build the capacity of the pharmacy workforce in the Philippines to communicate effectively with customers about COVID-19.

This partnership developed two solutions to strengthen pharmacy capacity to be sources of reliable COVID-19 information and communication : (1) run awareness campaigns to promote COVID-19 best practices and prevention for pharmacy professionals and the patients they serve through SwipeRx, the largest social network of pharmacies in Southeast Asia using their social media platforms and mobile application; and (2) provide continuing professional development (CPD) education modules to pharmacy professionals using SwipeRx app covering topics on COVID-19 etiology, method of transmission, best practices, and health system framework currently in place to tackle COVID-19 (i.e., health facilities to get diagnosed when COVID-19 infection is suspected, etc.)

These are posters explaining the basics of patient isolation and referral, and the patient pathway

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: March 17, 2021

Awareness of COVID-19 for Pharmacy Professionals – User Testimonials

In an effort to expand public efforts to arrest the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) collaborated with mClinica, an Asian regional tech startup that develops and operates mobile platforms, to build the capacity of the pharmacy workforce in the Philippines to communicate effectively with customers about COVID-19.

This partnership developed two solutions to strengthen pharmacy capacity to be sources of reliable COVID-19 information and communication : (1) run awareness campaigns to promote COVID-19 best practices and prevention for pharmacy professionals and the patients they serve through SwipeRx, the largest social network of pharmacies in Southeast Asia using their social media platforms and mobile application; and (2) provide continuing professional development (CPD) education modules to pharmacy professionals using SwipeRx app covering topics on COVID-19 etiology, method of transmission, best practices, and health system framework currently in place to tackle COVID-19 (i.e., health facilities to get diagnosed when COVID-19 infection is suspected, etc.)

These are posters with testimonials from pharmacists about how the materials helped them do their jobs better.

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: March 17, 2021

COVID 19 Contact Tracing Materials

These materials were created for contact tracers in the Philippines to use as reference materials when visiting the homes of people exposed to COVID-19 and to leave with households.

The materials are based on formative research that found that citizens did not understand the purpose or importance of contact tracing and how it could protect their health and the health of their families. The materials also give contact tracers the information and confidence they need to approach people who may be fearful of their visit. The package includes household card, job aids, and social media cards.

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, USAID

Date of Publication: March 17, 2021

The COVID Tracking Project

The COVID Tracking Project is a volunteer organization launched from The Atlantic and dedicated to collecting and publishing the data required to understand the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.

Every day, their teams collect data on COVID-19 testing and patient outcomes from all 50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia. The dataset is currently in use by national and local news organizations across the United States and by research projects and agencies worldwide. Their data API (which allows sites and apps to import our dataset automatically) receives about two million requests per day.

On April 15, they launched the COVID Racial Data Tracker, a partnership between the COVID Tracking Project and the Center for Antiracist Research that collects, publishes, and analyzes racial data on the pandemic within the United States.

Source: COVID Tracking Project

Date of Publication: September 22, 2020

COVID-19 Kenya – Clinical Guidance and Job Aid Tracker

This resource tracks technical guidance about COVID-19 and lists useful job aids for health workers. The tracker offers a brief description of each piece of guidance/job aid, a link to where it can be found, and the topic which it covers.

Source: Ministry of Health, Kenya

Date of Publication: August 5, 2020

COVID-19 Kenya – Knowledge Sharing Tracker

This resource tracks reports, presentations, documents, and other tools which are being accumulated as new information about COVID-19 in Kenya is published.

Source: Ministry of Health, Kenya

Date of Publication: August 3, 2020