Communication in context: How culture, structure, and agency shape health and risk communication about COVID‐19 in Ghana.

Despite impressive strides toward proper health education about the pandemic, in resource‐limited contexts, health information dissemination occurs within a structural context that restricts the enactment of agency and further marginalizes the most vulnerable. Through observations of and reflections about Ghana's work in health communication about the COVID‐19 pandemic, this essay examines the key processes and outcomes of COVID‐19 information dissemination in Ghana, highlighting the structural factors that contribute to health inequities during the pandemic. We argue that although Ghana has been commended continentally and globally for the country's efforts in containing the virus and vaccinating its populace, there is evidence of health information access disparities across the country, especially in rural communities. In doing so, we increase knowledge about health information needs and gaps, and conclude by making recommendations for public health practitioners in Ghana and similar contexts. Highlights: Health information access disparities, particularly in rural areas of Ghana worsened the impact of COVID‐19. Gaps in access and structural inequities have the largest impact on the most vulnerable populations. To increase effectiveness of health information dissemination, it is important to critically engage with culture and larger socio‐cultural structures that may impact community members' enactment of agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]