Pandemic fatigue - Reinvigorating the public to prevent COVID-19

This document was prepared in response to requests from Member States for guidance on responding to pandemic fatigue and reinvigorating public support for protective behaviours. 

It provides a framework for Member States to help them plan and implement national and subnational strategies in this field. It draws on the results of behavioural insights surveys conducted across the European Region, including those based on a WHO tool (2), as well as pre-COVID-19 literature related to public health, health crises, resilience, trust, risk perception, cultural contexts, communication and more. It has been reviewed by a range of Member State representatives and topic experts.

This list was made for decision-makers who are seeking recommendations:

1. Think local. Reach out to civil society groups and ask them to find creative ways of motivating their members and peers.
2. In every workplace, school, university, youth club and more, ask the users to discuss how they would like to implement the recommended behaviours. 
3. Develop guidance on living life while reducing risk. 
4. Start early to prepare safe solutions for upcoming national celebrations where people gather across geographies and generations.
5. Understand which measures may be unbearable in the long term
6. Make recommended behaviours easy and inexpensive. 
7. Appeal to people rather than blame, scare or threaten them. Recognize that everyone is contributing.
8. Be clear, precise and predictable.
9. Conduct regular qualitative or qualitative population studies.
10. Tailor communication to specific groups that experience demotivation. Test messages and visuals with sample populations before launching them.