The Problem with “Most People”: Racism and Ableism in U.S. COVID-19 Public Health Communication

Abstract

Public health communication related to COVID-19 does not typically address the needs of “high-risk” Americans. Rather, pandemic-era policy has prioritized those who have the lowest risks for complications and mortality—white, nondisabled, employed, housed, middle- to high-income American citizens with private health insurance. This article addresses whether commonly held definitions of misinformation and “health literacy” are useful when public health communication does not meaningfully address the needs of chronically ill and disabled individuals. It considers strategies used by marginalized people to assess and understand medical advice, workplace provisions, and education policies that typically assume low risk and ignore comorbidities. It argues that the U.S. should build a more equitable public health communication infrastructure that collects and reports on race- and disability-specific data, accounts for complexity in crisis communication, and targets the needs of communities that are most heavily impacted by public health threats.