Building integrated preparedness: Portugal’s national all-hazard RCCE-IM approach

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Portugal implemented innovative approaches to support this integration: 1) longitudinal monitoring of population risk perception through social media analysis enabled real-time identification of shifts in public concerns and mismatches between institutional risk assessments and public perception, informing adaptive communication. 2) a national social mobilisation project engaged community actors, including pharmacists, firefighters and police officers, as micro-influencers to support health literacy and proximity communication. Over 3500 micro-influencers were trained, leading to 670 local initiatives. Building on these experiences, Portugal is developing its national all-hazard plan for Risk Communication, Community Engagement and Infodemic Management (RCCE-IM), aligned with WHO and ECDC approaches. To support implementation, the Directorate-General of Health established a multidisciplinary expert group on Behavioural Sciences, Health Communication and Community Engagement, alongside a national Health Literacy and Communication Network within the National Health Service. These structures support AI-assisted social listening, and messages development, risk perception monitoring and coordination across levels. The plan formalises these practices into core preparedness functions, including integrated monitoring systems, standardised communication processes, coordination mechanisms, and community engagement models. The presentation will showcase key results from pandemic-era initiatives and demonstrate how these are being translated into new tools, methodologies and pilot applications to support the development and testing of the national plan. Portugal’s approach demonstrates the transition from reactive response to an operational preparedness model, with relevance for countries seeking to institutionalise RCCE-IM capacities.