Communicating Awareness About COVID-19 Through Songs: An Example From Ghana

"The use of songs composed in local languages could be an important means of sensitizing vulnerable citizens to the awareness and health implications of COVID-19."

The arrival of COVID-19 in Ghana in March 2020 and subsequent increase in cases prompted presidential directives to increase awareness among citizens by creating and disseminating information on various preventive measures. Many of the initiatives did not reach citizens who are more isolated, who lack access to the internet, and/or who cannot read the official language. Thus, some musicians in the country took it upon themselves, without any official support, to compose songs in local languages to educate the public about the disease. This paper explores how songs are being used to create awareness about COVID-19 in Ghana.

As background for the analysis, the paper discusses the strategy of edutainment, which allows for educational messages to be embedded in entertainment media in order to positively change behaviours and attitudes. The use of songs in the context of infectious diseases is not new phenomenon in Africa. In relation to HIV/AIDS and Ebola, for instance, popular artists in the region incorporated basic information about these diseases and communicated preventative measures in their songs. Certain characteristics of songs, such as repetition and the capacity for involuntary recall, enhance the effectiveness of educational messages.

Furthermore, music plays an integral role in the culture of many African countries, including Ghana. It is also used to recount history, and it forms a part of festivals, ceremonies related to rites of passage, and other cultural functions. The messages embedded in the lyrics of songs are designed to reach a large segment of the population faster and in a meaningful and memorable fashion. The idea is that people with a broad range of literacy and access to information can better retain these types of messages and thus achieve the goal of public health knowledge.

The 28 songs examined in the study were composed by individual Ghanaian musicians and posted on their YouTube channels during the pandemic. Most lyrics are in English, Ghanaian Pidgin English, Akan, Ga, or Dagbani. Reflecting the multilingual population of Ghana, half of the songs contain three languages to convey their message. Most of the musical artists display their bilingual/multilingual identity and use languages to ground their messages in socio-culturally relevant contexts.

Eight themes emerged from the analysis (supporting lyrics are provided in the paper):

• Public health guidelines - All 28 songs mention some way to help prevent the infection. The musicians emphasise the need for individual responsibility to avoid contracting coronavirus and subsequently, ward off death.
• COVID-19 is real and not a hoax - Some lyrics indicate that the disease emerged from China and has spread to almost all parts of the world, where many people are dying and many others are being hospitalised as a result of contracting the disease.
• COVID-19 is infectious - Some lyrics make it clear that the novel coronavirus is even more infectious than HIV, SARS, and Ebola, and that older adults are especially vulnerable.
• Prayer as method to stop the virus - More than half of the songs express the idea that divine intervention is needed to curb the spread of the virus. Some of the lyrics urge their audience to pray to God.
• Emotional reaction and disruption of "everyday" activities - One song indicates, "You are putting my people in sorrow. We are not able to come together anymore. Social distancing is killing our businesses."
• Verbally expelling the virus - On the basis of belief in the power of words by Ghanaians in general, some musicians clearly state the world does not want this disease, while others ask the virus to go back to where it came from.
• Call for unity and collective efforts - Some musicians describe coronavirus as "a common enemy" and thus reinforce the need for unity and collective efforts at both national and global levels to help defeat the virus.
• Inspiring hope - There are lyrics that assure the audience that this pandemic will not last forever. Some musicians also express their belief that God will heal those infected and deliver the world from this pandemic.

Reflecting on the overall set of songs analysed, the researchers point to the lyrics' educational purpose - providing content on the prevalence of the disease, how infectious it is, and how it has disrupted social activities on both personal and global levels. In keeping with the communal nature of the Ghanaian society, the songs propose a collective effort to fight the virus, but at the same time encourage listeners to take responsibility for their own health and to adopt the necessary precautions. To that end, some signs and symptoms are identified in the lyrics, along with steps that people can take to prevent the transmission of the disease.

In addition to promoting public health guidelines for COVID-19, some of the musicians encourage the use of prayer as well as verbally expelling the virus as methods of combating the disease. This is in line with research revealing that in Ghana, some people conceptualise the causes and cures of diseases through both biomedical and religious/spiritual means.

Many of the lyrics convey emotional appeals that warn listeners that the disease is "dangerous", "wicked", "scary", "serious", and "deadly". While some of these descriptions may induce fear, the message that many people all over the world have been infected irrespective of age, race, nationality, physical stature, or social status can be viewed as an essential step in de-stigmatising the disease. Acknowledging that loneliness is a common feeling during social isolation can help to address mental health issues, and the act of inspiring hope in some lyrics may also enhance the quality of life of persons who are already infected or assure listeners who are not yet infected that overcoming the disease is possible.

The researchers stress that "attention to song lyrics may provide broad insight into local discourse, including ideas that may contradict accepted public health messages. Therefore, a future study could focus on some recognition of the diversity of messages that may be communicated through songs in order to provide a more nuanced perspective."

In conclusion: "Music has much to offer to the communication efforts related to COVID-19 and is especially appropriate for educational needs due to its inherent participatory nature....In addition to musicians, other artistic entertainers such as comedians and poets should also be involved in the broader efforts to engage and educate the public through messages conveyed in their spoken words. This should be done in consultation with public health workers to avoid misinformation."