Principles Of Risk Communication Research Articles

Ebola on Instagram and Twitter: How health organizations address the health crisis in their social media engagement

Although social media have been used by public relations practitioners as a key vehicle for crisis communication, little is known about how these platforms were utilized by public health organizations in infectious disease outbreak situations and how this may have shaped the publics’ responses to the outbreak on and off social media. Taking the approach of strategic health risk communication, this study examined Ebola-related social media posts by three major health organizations, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, also known as Doctors without Borders), on Twitter and Instagram, focusing on the types of communication that were used during the outbreak, the content and context of these communications, and the responses they elicited from the publics. While both platforms were utilized by all three health organizations, the results suggest that Instagram may be a particularly useful platform for establishing meaningful, interactive communication with the publics in times of global health crises, as evidenced by significantly greater levels of engagement on the part of health organizations and the publics. Furthermore, our findings indicate that social media messaging may be most effective when it is used by health organizations that are familiar with and to the publics, and when it is based on the strategic use of risk communication principles such as solution-based messaging, incorporation of visual imagery, and acknowledgement of public fears and concerns. We discuss the results in the context of strategic health risk communication guidelines and implications for public relations practice.

Abstract IA22: Using risk assessment tools to motivate behavior change

Abstract Epidemiology identifies risk factors for cancer and other diseases based on the idea that conveying such information to healthcare providers, the general public, and policy makers will result in population-wide improvements in healthy behaviors and, consequently, population-wide improvements in health outcomes. These actions assume that the audience understands and uses the information to make health-related decisions. However, the language of epidemiology, which is steeped in probabilistic thinking, is not necessarily the language of the general public. Furthermore, growing evidence suggests that the language of epidemiology is not particularly well-understood by policy makers or even, disconcertingly, by some healthcare providers. This presentation will accomplish three objectives. First, it will demonstrate how a user-friendly, Internet-based, personalized risk assessment tool that uses established principles of risk communication and is grounded in health behavior change theories can increase motivation to change behavior. It will accomplish this in the context of using Your Disease Risk to inform women about the association between physical activity and breast cancer risk. Second, it will illustrate the development of a novel personalized risk assessment tool that increases understanding of the link between lifestyle behaviors and overall health and wellness. Specifically, it translates cumulative incidence data about five diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality (i.e., colon cancer, breast cancer (women), heart disease, diabetes, and stroke) into a tool that conveys personalized risk estimates in a comprehensible and useful way for laypeople from diverse socio-demographic backgrounds. The premise is that illustrating how a single behavior can affect the likelihood of developing several diseases could foster a more coherent and meaningful picture of the behavior's importance in reducing health risks and could increase motivation to engage in the behavior. The behavioral context for this study is also physical activity. Third, this presentation discuss the limits of tools that convey only risk information and do not help users bridge the gap between wanting to change their behavior and having the knowledge, skills, and confidence to actually initiate and maintain such changes. Citation Format: Erika A. Waters. Using risk assessment tools to motivate behavior change. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Improving Cancer Risk Prediction for Prevention and Early Detection; Nov 16-19, 2016; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(5 Suppl):Abstract nr IA22.

Risk Communication Strategies: Lessons Learned from Previous Disasters with a Focus on the Fukushima Radiation Accident.

It has been difficult to both mitigate the health consequences and effectively provide health risk information to the public affected by the Fukushima radiological disaster. Often, there are contrasting public health ethics within these activities which complicate risk communication. Although no risk communication strategy is perfect in such disasters, the ethical principles of risk communication provide good practical guidance. These discussions will be made in the context of similar lessons learned after radiation exposures in Goiania, Brazil, in 1987; the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, Ukraine, in 1986; and the attack at the World Trade Center, New York, USA, in 2001. Neither of the two strategies is perfect nor fatally flawed. Yet, this discussion and lessons from prior events should assist decision makers with navigating difficult risk communication strategies in similar environmental health disasters.

Risk communication for the dental team

Risk communication within dentistry involves giving patients information about potential risks they may encounter as a result of a dental disease, a clinical procedure or a particular behaviour. It is a personalised communication and allows patients the opportunity to make an informed choice about the provision of clinical care or the choice of a particular behaviour. Risk communication should form part of every patient interaction and is a task with which most dental professionals are familiar. Although risk communication is routine practice for dental professionals, evidence from other healthcare settings suggests that clinicians find the process challenging and may not possess the necessary skills and training to be effective. This paper aims to summarise the research findings for risk communication within healthcare and to explain the principles of effective risk communication. By developing a clearer understanding of the complexities of communication and presenting risks to patients, we may reduce misunderstandings and enable more informed decision-making.

Toward understanding the active SETI debate: Insights from risk communication and perception

Insights from the robust field of risk communication and perception have to date been almost totally absent from the policy debate regarding the relative risks and merits of Active SETI or Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). For many years, the practice (or proposed practice) of Active SETI has generated a vigorous and sometimes heated policy debate within the scientific community. There have also been some negative reactions in the media toward the activities of those engaged in Active SETI. Risk communication is a scientific approach to communication regarding situations involving potentially sensitive or controversial situations in which there may be high public concern and low public trust. The discipline has found wide acceptance and utility in fields such as public health, industrial regulation and environmental protection. Insights from the scientific field of risk communication (such as omission bias, loss aversion, the availability heuristic, probability neglect, and the general human preference for voluntary over involuntary risks) may help those who have participated in either side of the debate over Active SETI to better understand why the debate has taken on this posture. Principles of risk communication and risk perception may also help those engaged in Active SETI to communicate more effectively with other scientists, the public, with the media, and with policy makers regarding their activities and to better understand and respond to concerns expressed regarding the activity.

Assessing knowledge and application of emergency risk communication principles among public health workers in China.

Since 2003, the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission (formerly the Ministry of Health) has implemented changes to more effectively communicate risk during public health emergencies. In spite of ongoing improvements, provincial and sub-provincial leaders face barriers, such as established modes of operation, lack of training, shortage of trained risk communicators, and limited understanding and willingness of recipients to mitigate risks. We assessed the current status of and barriers to risk communication knowledge and practice among public health practitioners in China. We designed the survey questionnaire to capture information related to the risk communication core capacities required by international health regulations and common risk communication principles. Our findings showed that risk communication training has successfully developed an awareness of risk communication principles and the ability to implement those principles in practice in China. Future efforts should focus on areas such as a dedicated risk communication workforce, requirements that public health agencies develop a risk communication plan, and additional training for public health practitioners and their partners. It is critical that the infectious diseases prevention and control law be amended to grant provincial and local public health agencies more autonomy to release information.

Vehicle-Mounted High-Power Microwave Systems and Health Risk Communication in a Deployed Environment

Vehicle-mounted high-power microwave systems have been developed to counter the improvised explosive device threat in southwest Asia. Many service members only vaguely comprehend the nature of these devices and the nonionizing radio frequency (RF) radiation they emit. Misconceptions about the health effects of RF radiation have the potential to produce unnecessary anxiety. We report an incident in which concern for exposure to radiation from a high-power microwave device thought to be malfunctioning led to an extensive field investigation, multiple evaluations by clinicians in theater, and subsequent referrals to an Occupational Health clinic upon return from deployment. When acute exposure to RF does occur, the effects are thermally mediated and immediately perceptible--limiting the possibility of injury. Unlike ionizing radiation, RF radiation is not known to cause cancer and the adverse health effects are not cumulative. Medical officers counseling service members concerned about potential RF radiation exposure should apply established principles of risk communication, attend to real and perceived risks, and enlist the assistance of technical experts to properly characterize an exposure when appropriate.

Risk Communication in Deployment-Related Exposure Concerns

Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense health care providers and educators serve as primary channels of communication with veterans but may not understand the importance and benefits of risk communication to inform and empower veterans about actions to take or not take to improve the quality of their health. This article describes the importance of understanding and applying risk communication principles in communicating to veterans about the potential for health concerns/impacts from deployment-related exposures. The principles of risk communication as relevant to clinical encounters are presented, focusing on a review of risk perception factors influencing deployment-related exposure concerns. Results show that risk communication can impact how veterans will take in and process information about deployment-related exposures. This article illustrates how providers can effectively use risk communication to structure better clinical encounters and communication with veterans.

Seasonal and pandemic influenza: the role of communication and preventive strategies.

Appropriate, timely, and data-driven health information is a very important issue in preventive strategies against influenza. Intuitively, a link between willingness to be vaccinated against seasonal influenza and against pandemic influenza exists, given the similarities in decision-making for this vaccine. International and national literature reviews suggest that progress has been made in order to incorporate and disseminate crisis risk communication principles into public health practice, as such investments in public health could be important for building capacity and practice which aid in the realization of countermeasures in response to a future pandemic and epidemic situation. This study emphasizes the lack of perception by Health Care Workers (HCWs) of the importance of being immunized against seasonal and pandemic influenza and the doubts concerning safety. In the future, particular efforts are needed during vaccination campaigns, to provide more information to HCWs and the general population regarding role and safety of such vaccines.

Panel 1: Medical Surveillance Prior to, During, and Following Potential Environmental Exposures

This review assesses the Department of Defense approach to medical surveillance of environmental exposures during deployments. Seven steps in the process are reviewed: (1) exposure assessment, (2) identification of the target population, (3) surveillance for current exposures, (4) surveillance for long-term effects, (5) record keeping for environmental data, (6) analysis of surveillance data, and (7) communication of results. Exposures need to be evaluated as soon as they are recognized, and potentially exposed individuals should be identified at the time of the exposure. Long-term health surveillance relies primarily on electronic medical records. Department of Defense databases are powerful resources for surveillance for service members, up until the time of separation. The Millennium Cohort Study is tracking the health status of 150,000 service members for 21 years, including after separation. Risk communication principles should be incorporated when reporting surveillance results. Often, there are several interested audiences, in addition to military leaders and service members.

Encyclopedia of science and technology communication

The explosion of scientific information is exacerbating the information gap between richer/poorer, educated/less-educated publics. The proliferation of media technology and the popularity of the Internet help some keep up with these developments but also make it more likely others fall further behind. This is taking place in a globalizing economy and society that further complicates the division between information haves and have-nots and compounds the challenge of communicating about emerging science and technology to increasingly diverse audiences. Journalism about science and technology must fill this gap, yet journalists and journalism students themselves struggle to keep abreast of contemporary scientific developments. Scientist - aided by public relations and public information professionals - must get their stories out, not only to other scientists but also to broader public audiences. Funding agencies increasingly expect their grantees to engage in outreach and education, and such activity can be seen as both a survival strategy and an ethical imperative for taxpayer-supported, university-based research. Science communication, often in new forms, must expand to meet all these needs. Providing a comprehensive introduction to students, professionals and scholars in this area is a unique challenge because practitioners in these fields must grasp both the principles of science and the principles of science communication while understanding the social contexts of each. For this reason, science journalism and science communication are often addressed only in advanced undergraduate or graduate specialty courses rather than covered exhaustively in lower-division courses. Even so, those entering the field rarely will have a comprehensive background in both science and communication studies. This circumstance underscores the importance of compiling useful reference materials. The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Communication presents resources and strategies for science communicators, including theoretical material and background on recent controversies and key institutional actors and sources. Science communicators need to understand more than how to interpret scientific facts and conclusions; they need to understand basic elements of the politics, sociology, and philosophy of science, as well as relevant media and communication theory, principles of risk communication, new trends, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of science communication programmes, to mention just a few of the major challenges. This work will help to develop and enhance such understanding as it addresses these challenges and more. Topics covered include: advocacy, policy, and research organizations environmental and health communication philosophy of science media theory and science communication informal science education science journalism as a profession risk communication theory public understanding of science pseudo-science in the news special problems in reporting science and technology science communication ethics.

Principles to enable leaders to navigate the harsh realities of crisis and risk communication

Leadership during a crisis that involves the physical safety and emotional or financial wellbeing of those being led offers an intense environment that may not allow for on-the-job training. One of the challenges faced by crisis leaders is to communicate effectively the courses of action needed to allow for a reduction of harm to individuals and the ultimate restoration of the group, organisation or community. The six principles of crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC) give leaders tools to navigate the harsh realities of speaking to employees, media, partners and stakeholders during an intense crisis. CERC also helps leaders to avoid the five most common communication mistakes during crises. Much of the harmful individual and group behaviour predicted in a profound crisis can be mitigated with effective crisis and emergency risk communication. A leader must anticipate what mental stresses followers will be experiencing and apply appropriate communication strategies to attempt to manage these stresses among staff or the public and preserve or repair the organisation’s reputation. In an emergency, the right message at the right time is a ‘resource multiplier’ — it helps leaders to get their job done.

Risk communication and media coverage of emerging contaminants

As it becomes more common to communicate with customers about issues of complex science whose health effects are not well understood, it is imperative for utilities to understand the perceptions their different audiences have about drinking water and public health. Utilities must also acknowledge the role that trust plays in communications and make efforts to gain and keep the trust of their customers and the general public. The Associated Press series of articles about pharmaceuticals in drinking water that were published in media outlets around the country are presented here as a case study. The author explains how risk communication principles are used and offers suggestions for applying these principles in utility communications, specifically when addressing pharmaceuticals and other emerging issues.

Action, Not Talk: A Simulation of Risk Communication During the First Hours of a Pandemic

This article describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a simulation of risk communication in the first hours of a pandemic. The simulation design was based on Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication principles espoused by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the collective experience of the authors. Over 4 hours, 17 local health district risk communicators in Georgia responded to a scenario in which every community in the state had teenagers infected with avian flu after returning from an international conference. The evaluation revealed that local risk communicators had much greater difficulty following risk communication principles under the time pressures of a realistic and stressful event than they did in a tabletop exercise. Strengths and weaknesses of the performance of the local risk communicators are identified in addition to lessons learned about the design and implementation of a risk communication simulation.

Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies

This review defines crisis risk communication, traces its origins to a number of applied fields, and then shows how basic principles have become incorporated into emergency preparedness and risk communication for public health. Literature from four different disciplines that inform crisis risk communications are reviewed. These are (a) environmental risk communication, (b) disaster management, (c) health promotion and communication, and (d) media and communication studies. Current curricula and training materials are briefly reviewed. Although this literature review suggests much progress has been made to incorporate and disseminate crisis risk communication principles into public health practice, and case studies suggest that public health workers have gained skills and experience, this emerging field still lacks in-depth evaluation of the effectiveness of event-specific crisis risk communication efforts.

The Principles of Risk Communication: IGNORING THEM CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!

This article discusses the principles of risk communication, which involve public health, behavioral science, and communication. Seven basic rules of risk communication are provided, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water Academy website, and AWWA's website for its 2005 seminar on crisis communications.

Leave No One Behind: Improving Health and Risk Communication Through Attention to Literacy

Twice in recent times, the federal government mailed critical health-related information to every household in the United States. The mailings, the 1988 brochure Understanding AIDS and the 2001 postcard A Message to Americans, were designed to provide the general public with important information about needed action. This paper compares the development process undertaken for each mailing. The authors assess content and format in light of communication principles and the functional literacy skills of average adults. The authors, noting that the reading grade level of the postcard exceeds the reading ability of the average adult, recommend that plain language guidelines be combined with health and risk communication principles in all future efforts to alert the public.

Risk assessment and risk communication

The goal of this chapter is to discuss the general principles of risk assessment and risk communication as they relate to the use of excipients in drug products. A vital need of the user of any pro...

Risky business: challenges in vaccine risk communication.

* Abbreviations: AAP = : American Academy of Pediatrics • ACIP = : Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices • IPV = : inactivated polio vaccine • FDA = : Food and Drug Administration • DTwP = : diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell pertussis vaccine • DTaP = : diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine • DTP = : diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine • CDC = : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • NCVIA = : National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act • VICP = : Vaccine Injury Compensation Program • IOM = : Institute of Medicine • OPV = : oral polio vaccine • VIS = : Vaccine Information Statements Concern over vaccine safety has been a major determinant of immunization policy—from passage of the Biologics Control Act in 1902 to the recent American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations for expanded use of inactivated polio (IPV) and acellular pertussis vaccines.1-4 With the availability of new vaccines and vaccination options comes the challenge of how best to communicate these options to patients and their parents. Lessons from the field of risk communication on predictors of risk acceptability and vaccination decision heuristics provide insight into why some parents resist vaccination. This article provides a historical perspective on vaccine adverse events and applies lessons from risk communication research to help physicians improve their ability to discuss vaccine risks. Immunizations have been described as the single most effective health intervention after clean water and sewage disposal,5 and have an extraordinary safety record. However, public policy has long reflected concern for the safety of vaccines and related biologics. In 1902, Congress passed the Biologics Control Act in response to the death of 13 children who had received injections of diphtheria antitoxin contaminated with tetanus toxin.6 This act required biologics to be manufactured in a manner that assured their safety, purity, and potency. Responsibility for these regulations was assigned originally to the Hygienic Laboratory of the Public Health Service, which evolved into the National Institutes of Health. The regulation of biologics including vaccines was transferred to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1972. The first published accounts of serious adverse events after whole cell pertussis vaccine occurred in 1933 with Madsen's7 report of two deaths within 48 hours of immunization, and in 1948 with the report in Pediatrics by Byers and Moll8 of encephalopathy after diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined with whole-cell pertussis …

Public health implications of environmental exposures.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a public health agency with responsibility for assessing the public health implications associated with uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances into the environment. The biological effects of low-level exposures are a primary concern in these assessments. One of the tools used by the agency for this purpose is the risk assessment paradigm originally outlined and described by the National Academy of Science in 1983. Because of its design and inherent concepts, risk assessment has been variously employed by a number of environmental and public health agencies and programs as a means to organize information, as a decision support tool, and as a working hypothesis for biologically based inference and extrapolation. Risk assessment has also been the subject of significant critical review. The ATSDR recognizes the utility of both the qualitative and quantitative conclusions provided by traditional risk assessment, but the agency uses such estimates only in the broader context of professional judgment, internal and external peer review, and extensive public review and comment. This multifaceted approach is consistent with the Council on Environmental Quality's description and use of risk analysis as an organizing construct based on sound biomedical and other scientific judgment in concert with risk assessment to define plausible exposure ranges of concern rather than a single numerical estimate that may convey an artificial sense of precision. In this approach biomedical opinion, host factors, mechanistic interpretation, molecular epidemiology, and actual exposure conditions are all critically important in evaluating the significance of environmental exposure to hazardous substances. As such, the ATSDR risk analysis approach is a multidimensional endeavor encompassing not only the components of risk assessment but also the principles of biomedical judgment, risk management, and risk communication. Within this framework of risk analysis, the ATSDR may rely on one or more of a number of interrelated principles and approaches to screen, organize information, set priorities, make decisions, and define future research needs and directions.