Risk Communication (Climate Change)- Effective Communication During Public Health Disasters Practice Lab

Background

Each group will conduct a town hall meeting with the following topics: Ebola virus, West Nile Virus, Vaccine requirements for children attending schools, Climate change, Gun violence, Nuclear Power Plant Hazards, and Superfund / Hazardous Waste Site in local community. Where one person in the group is the director of public health for a city in the USA, one person is a healthcare provider and director of that city’s hospital, and the other person will serve as the mayor of that city.  Your classmates from the other groups will serve as members of the general public and the instructor will serve as a reporter.  You must be prepared to answer questions using good risk communication practices.  It is strongly suggested that you message map your potential answers to expected questions.  The instructor will utilize questions that have been asked on these topics during real press conferences held in the past.

Key Study Questions

1. What was/were your main take home message(s)?
2. Were you able to communicate your take home messages successfully? Why or why not?
3. What did you feel were the biggest challenges and toughest aspects of this assignment?
4. What could you personally improve about your performance?
5. What did your group do well and how could your group improve its performance?
6. What advice would you give to a colleague as they prepare to participate in a public town hall meeting of a controversial topic?

Method

In this practice lab each group chose a topic for a mock town hall meeting. The topic of choice for my group was Climate change. Each member of the group is assigned a role that included: director of public health for a city in the USA, Healthcare Provider, Hospital director, and Mayor of the affected city. When the group presented the remaining class members played the role of the general public asking questions and the class instructor serving as a reporter. Prior to the start of the presentation each group watched a video on the topic of concern and given five minutes to plan their communication strategy and desired message to deliver. The topic of discussion for Climate change concerned wildfires in Northern California.

Findings

While conveying the message of containing the fire, evacuating residents from the area, and maintaining search and rescue efforts was put forth it was not without some rejections. Each member of the group communicated the same message from their respective position and when unsure they were able to defer to another member of the group that was able to reinforce the take home messages. The biggest challenge for my group was the broadness of the topic, climate change, as there are many crises and events associated with it. During our group brainstorming sessions wildfires were not even considered as much as flooding or heat waves. The toughest aspect of the assignment was the limited time to prepare a concise message for the townhall interview and the level of cooperation between group members. Five minutes to prepare an understandable statement between a group of five people and then defend our position confidently is a real challenge. Crises occur without warning and rapid effective response is necessary and with effective risk communication critical information can be dispersed to the affected community more effectively.

Recommendations

There is no such thing as being too prepared, having as much information on the topic and keeping your statements clear is vital to success. Practicing different scenarios, however unlikely, can still prepare for the most unexpected events during a public health crisis meeting. Be prepared for things to get heated depending on how controversial the topic is and try to remain calm and avoid taking comments personally. Your body language is just as important as what you are saying, so make sure your expressions are appropriate to convey your message clearly. Lastly, always steer the interview in the direction you want and use bridging statements as needed to keep on the subject matter.

Public Health Significance

The communication plans for emergency services to coordinate efforts to resolve a crisis is the most important step in risk communication. Disseminating the necessary information during a crisis is critical to the health and safety of all those affected by the event. With ineffective risk communication during events such as a townhall meeting correct information may not be accepted and instead incorrect or misinformation may be accepted by the affected population causing more harm than good. Events following a crisis are time sensitive and communicating the right information at the right time can save lives and prevent unnecessary suffering.

References

Risk-Communication