Covid & Change: medical face masks
After a few weeks of Belgian lockdown, Prof. Maarten Vansteenkiste (UGent, Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology) shows that people’s motivation for respecting the lockdown measures is decreasing. He calls for better communication on the “why” behind these measures. The whole fuss behind the medical face masks is a typical example when looked at from a change and communication perspective.
It’s a fact that these face masks have some advantages when it comes to reducing the spread of infection to others. But they don’t protect you from being infected by others, directly or indirectly. And it requires some discipline and technique to use them in a correct way. It’s nevertheless admitted they are an extra weapon in this global battle, next to (and not replacing) the other obvious measures like social distancing, washing your hands, ...
But in people’s perception, these face masks are thought to be doing a lot more, offering almost full protection against the virus. Wearing them makes them feel safe and protected, as if it was some kind of amulet. It is already demonstrated today through complete absurd behaviours, like people wearing a face mask while driving their own car...
Between fact and perception, there is an enormous gap which would probably lead to unsafe behaviour if these face masks would be largely distributed. The benefits of reducing the spread by wearing face masks in an appropriate way would be largely destroyed by the side effects of people neglecting the other safety rules. Without appropriate information and training, we probably would see a huge increase of admissions in hospitals a week after. To put it a bit boldly: as long as people are wearing masks in their car, we should probably not give them masks, to avoid things getting worse...
Bringing it back to change terminology, the lack of Awareness (the benefits and weaknesses of a medical face mask) and the lack of Knowledge (how to use it properly) regarding these masks would lead to the complete opposite of the desired behaviour and results.
Interesting reads:
Using face masks in the community - Reducing COVID-19 transmission from potentially asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people through the use of face masks https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/using-face-masks-community-reducing-covid-19-transmission
Hoe nauwgezet volgt de Vlaming de coronamaatregelen? En waarom?https://www.ugent.be/nl/actueel/omgaanmetcorona
