Amid the pandemic in 2020, the Government announced a new Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme (CLAS) for frontline health service and social care staff. It was designed to recognise the heightened risk faced by the people delivering vital care to patients suffering from coronavirus. The Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS Business Services Authority sought support to communicate sensitive messages about the scheme effectively and with empathy to employers and bereaved families.
As a communications partner with almost two decades of experience applying Behavioural Science to difficult messages, we helped the CLAS team to talk about the scheme, and about death, with the clarity and humanity they deserve. We drew on our communications consultants’ extensive research into empathetic communications and ‘the right way to write about death’ to:
By applying behavioural and research insights to make these critical communications helpful, human and clear, the employers and families of people who lost their lives supporting the public through a pandemic are shown the recognition and respect they deserve. Queries and complaints coming into the NHS Business Services Authority have been kept to a minimum, and our behavioural nudges prompt employers and claimants to share information at the right time, avoiding unnecessary delays and worry.