Table 2 Health belief model constructs, definitions, and example captions

Severity

Posts that indicated an assessment of an increase in the perceived seriousness and consequences of contracting coronavirus disease (eg, hospitalization, pneumonia, death, mortality risk, variants)

U.K Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved into the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his COVID-19 symptoms worsened Monday, just a day after he was admitted for what were said to be routine tests

Susceptibility

Posts that indicated an assessment of the increased likelihood of contracting coronavirus disease, highlighting increasing local prevalence and the high number of imported cases

This is Violet

Violet lost her best friend- her “Gramma”- Linda Lee Gruntke in 2018

Violet is worried about COVID’s impact on seniors

She doesn’t want to lose any more Gramma’s

Benefits

Posts that supported public health measures (eg, school closure, working from home, cancellation of events and mass gatherings, vaccination) to reduce the transmission of coronavirus disease

To get through this together, we must all stay apart. #PhysicalDistancing means you can still connect with loved ones, but do it virtually. #StayHOmeSaveLives. #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve

Barriers

Posts that mentioned the difficulties, challenges, and negative effects of adhering to public health measures (eg, loss of freedom, violation of individual rights, inconvenience, loss of income)

Happy Friday from the South African rain frog. Send this to someone you are missing whist STAYING HOME I QUAR QUAR!

Cues to action and response efficacy

Posts that include cues to action or prompts to engage in a behaviour (reminder to self-screen, get a covid-19 test if you have symptoms, talk to Dr., get the vaccine, register for the vaccine). Posts that include messages around efficacy or messages about how effective the proposed action is

If you’re feeling sick, protect yourself and others by staying home. If you need to travel, make sure you check out the travel advisories for your planned destination before you leave! Especially given the current #coronavirus situation