Medical staff perceptions of risk communication needs for the public and comparison with the needs expressed by the public

Y Yoshida

doi:10.1051/radiopro/2020060

Abstract

Risk communication programs about radiation exposure should be conducted continuously and rigorously by healthcare workers in the Tohoku region in order to reduce the stress caused by radiation exposure. This study aimed to compare the perception by medical staff of the public need to the public need as defined in a previous study, as well as examine the level of perception among healthcare workers of the two concepts “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA), and Regulatory Sciences. These two concepts were expected to be the ones to impart information regarding the effect of radiation on the human body during risk communication. The results showed differences between the public perception of risks and belief of what the public risk perception was by the medical staff. In addition, only 23.5% and 16.5% medical doctors had accurate perception of ALARA and Regulatory Sciences in Japan, respectively, even after the great East Japan Earthquake., ALARA and Regulatory Sciences should be added to healthcare workers’ education curriculums to enhance their knowledge level of these concepts. From the viewpoint of laypersons, public health awareness programs conducted by the local and central governments ranked fourth and fifth respectively as sources of information. One of the reasons was that, to some extent, the attitude of the central government seemed apt to be overbearing to laypersons. Therefore, we also believe that medical doctors are expected to be intermediaries between central/local governments and laypersons.

Highlights

After the great East Japan Earthquake hit the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011, risk communication activities have been organized and conducted by various stakeholders, especially in the affected region, to reduce the anxiety and stress of the evacuees with respect to radiation exposure (Sekizawa, 2013; Yamaguchi, 2013; Kuroda et al, 2018)
As part of risk communication after the great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, healthcare workers in Japan were considered to be advocates who provided information regarding the effect of radiation on the human body
This study showed that in the actual fields of risk communication, medical doctors were more apt than pharmacists and nurses to estimate that laypersons knew technical terms regarding radiation

Summary

Introduction

After the great East Japan Earthquake hit the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011, risk communication activities have been organized and conducted by various stakeholders, especially in the affected region, to reduce the anxiety and stress of the evacuees with respect to radiation exposure (Sekizawa, 2013; Yamaguchi, 2013; Kuroda et al, 2018). In order to perform risk communication activities in the affected area smoothly and effectively, the efficacy of risk communications should be evaluated. We have conducted a previous study to evaluate the effectiveness of risk communication with respect to the recognition level of technical terms relevant to radiation exposure to the human body among residents of the six prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Tokyo, Aichi, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki in Japan. Miyagi and Fukushima were selected as affected areas following the great East Japan Earthquake. Our previous research activities have shown that when the concept of Regulatory Science and ALARA were appropriately communicated to the audience, risk communication was conducted more smoothly

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Conclusion