HEALTH COMMUNICATION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROCESS IN TURKEY

Abstract

Knowledge is power. To help prevent disease, one must empower the patient. Thus, effective Health Communication gives us the ability to empower those we seek to treat. Health communication, which brings together the concepts of health and communication, is an interdisciplinary field that academic circles have been interested in recent years. The main purpose of a health communication program is to influence an individual's health behavior. For an effective health communication program, it is necessary to know the individual's behaviors and how these behaviors change. This research focusing on health communication was written to analyze health communication levels and health communication models.  The SARS-CoV-2 infection outbreak has been named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus disease is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. This study also emphasized the importance of Turkey's health communication procedures in the fight against Coronavirus. In this essay, the concept of health communication was analyzed, and the communication strategies followed by the Republic of Turkish Ministry of Health in combating the Coronavirus were evaluated.