Communication Beyond COVID-19 of Portuguese Health Entities Through Social Media

Abstract

Health communication is critical for achieving positive clinical health outcomes. This work aims to analyse how Portuguese health entities communicated non-COVID-19 health content with the public on social media, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A retrospective study was conducted on the Portuguese National Healthcare Service's communication with the public using social media platforms. Data from the National Health Service (NHS) and Directorate-General of Health (DGS) posts of the year 2020 were collected from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. A thematic analysis of all non-COVID-19-related posts was conducted, and the engagement (E) of the public was calculated. The most frequently published subject on social media platforms by NHS and DGS were “Commemorative Dates” (34.87%), “Miscellaneous” (19.95%), and “Emergency Preparedness and Response” (19.85%). On the NHS social media platforms, the posts with the highest public engagement were “Innovation” (E=926.0) on Instagram; “Vaccines, and Immunization” (E=577.9) on Facebook; and “Commemorative Dates” (E=23.0) on Twitter. DGS posts with the highest engagement of the public on all social media platforms were “Emergency Preparedness and Response” (E=2294.1) on Facebook; “Commemorative Dates” (E=122.5) on Instagram; and “Infant and Child Health” (E=107.7) on Twitter. The findings indicate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese National Healthcare communicated beyond COVID-19 disease.