Using creative methods for public health messaging: Experiences from an informal settlement in Kenya during the pandemic

This report provides an overview of Action Against Covid-19 Transmission in Nairobi (ACT Nairobi), a community-based, participatory public health project in an informal settlement of the city. The project sought to leverage citizen science and creative forms of expression to help combat misinformation about Covid-19, and encourage residents to take feasible steps to help reduce the spread of the virus.

Experiences from the project suggest that public health messaging from trusted community sources creates conditions for local communities to understand and respond favourably. Message makers and recipients who live in the same community have a shared understanding that can help tailor messages to the local context to help combat misinformation, conspiracies, and rumours. The project led to sustained activity and self-initiated use of such methods in other contexts. For example, participants established a community-based organization to continue creative engagement and messaging for health and environmental issues, and teachers use techniques learned in training to instruct students on other topics.