SHEA position statement on pandemic preparedness for policymakers: the role of healthcare epidemiologists in communicating during infectious diseases outbreaks.

Background Effective communication is a fundamental aspect of any emergency response, including outbreaks of infectious diseases, epidemics, and pandemics, during which rapidly evolving conditions, and changing or conflicting recommendations can generate confusion and mistrust.1–4 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid pace of changing public health guidance, the emergence and distribution of misinformation, as well as diminishing overall trust in public health agencies by both healthcare personnel and the general public, presented key challenges to communication which impacted the effectiveness of the public health policy response. The role of the healthcare epidemiologist is increasingly recognized as essential in the synthesis and communication of emerging science for healthcare settings, and for the general public. This commentary describes the challenges faced by healthcare epidemiologists and infection prevention and control experts, during the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes solutions to strengthen future emergency responses.