“Colonial virus”: COVID-19, creative arts and public health communication in Ghana

Ama de-Graft Aikins, Bernard Akoi-Jackson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Since March 2020, Ghana's creative arts communities have tracked the complex facets of the COVID-19 pandemic through various art forms. This paper reports a study that analysed selected 'COVID art forms' through arts and health and critical health psychology frameworks. Art forms produced between March and July 2020, and available in the public sphere - traditional media, social media and public spaces - were collated. The data consisted of comedy, cartoons, songs, murals and textile designs. Three key functions emerged from analysis: health promotion (comedy, cartoons, songs); disease prevention (masks); and improving the aesthetics of the healthcare environment (murals). Textile designs performed broader socio-cultural functions of memorialising and political advocacy. Similar to earlier HIV/AIDS and Ebola arts interventions in other African countries, these Ghanaian COVID art forms translated public health information on COVID-19 in ways that connected emotionally, created social awareness and improved public understanding. However, some art forms had limitations: for example, songs that edutained using fear-based strategies or promoting conspiracy theories on the origins and treatment of COVID-19, and state-sponsored visual art that represented public health messaging decoupled from socio-economic barriers to health protection. These were likely to undermine the public health communication goals of behaviour modification. We outline concrete approaches to incorporate creative arts into COVID-19 public health interventions and post-pandemic health systems strengthening in Ghana.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)86-96
Number of pages11
JournalGhana Medical Journal
Volume54
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Behaviour change
  • COVID-19
  • Creative arts
  • Ghana
  • Public health communication

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