Dual-Gendered Leadership: Gender-Inclusive Scientific-Political Public Health Communication Supporting Government COVID-19 Responses in Atlantic Canada

• Published in: Healthcare
• Main Authors: Haorui Wu, Jason Mackenzie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: COVID-19 emergency responses; public health interventions; dual-gendered leadership; women chief medical officers; men prime minister and premiers; Atlantic Canada; Medicine; R; Canada; Newfoundland; Prince Edward Island
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9101345; https://doaj.org/article/9cd8f7b4b0224445899482c0e9704b84

This research aims to identify the influence of woman leadership on improving the traditional man-dominated scientific-political communication towards positive COVID-19-driven public health interventions. Across Canada, dual-gendered leadership (women chief medical officers and men prime minister/premiers) at both federal and provincial levels illustrated a positive approach to “flatten the curve” during the first and second waves of COVID-19. With the four provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada formed the “Atlantic Bubble”, which has become a great example domestically and internationally of successfully mitigating the pandemic while maintaining societal operation. Three provinces have benefitted from this complementary dual-gendered leadership. This case study utilized a scoping media coverage review approach, quantitatively examining how gender-inclusive scientific-political cooperation supported effective provincial responses in Atlantic Canada during the first two waves of COVID-19. This case study discovers that (1) at the provincial government level, woman leadership of mitigation, advocating, and coordination encouraged provincial authorities to adapt science-based interventions and deliver consistent and supportive public health information to the general public; and (2) at the community level, this dual-gendered leadership advanced community cohesion toward managing the community-based spread of COVID-19. Future studies may apply a longitudinal, retrospective approach with Canada-wide or cross-national comparison to further evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of dual-gendered leadership.