One of the greatest challenges facing those concerned with health and environmental risks is how to carry on a useful public dialogue on these subjects. In a democracy, it is the public that ultimately makes the key decisions on how these risks will be controlled. The stakes are too high for us not to do our very best. The importance of this subject is what led the Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease to establish an Interagency Group on Public Education and Communication. This volume captures the essence of the "Workshop on the Role of Government in Health Risk Communication and Public Education" held in January 1987. It also includes some valuable appendixes with practical guides to risk communication. As such, it is an important building block in the effort to improve our collective ability to carry on this critical public dialogue. Lee M. Thomas Administrator, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Chairman, The Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease Preface The Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease is an interagency group established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 (P.L. 95-95). Congress mandated the Task Force to recommend research to determine the relationship between environmental pollutants and human disease and to recommend research aimed at reduc ing the incidence of environment-related disease. The Task Force's Project Group on Public Education and Communication focuses on education as a means of reducing or preventing disease.

Coordination of risk assessments and risk communication strategies requires information sharing and establishing networks of working relationships between groups and agencies. Establishing these relationships necessitates overcoming - stitutional, cultural, and political boundaries. Signi?cant barriers exist between r- ulatory agencies and industry groups. Traditionally, these groups have mistrusted one another, and cooperation and collaboration, including sharing information, c- respondingly has been limited. The adoption of radio frequency identi?cation te- nology for tracking livestock, for example, has been met with signi?cant resistance due in part to mistrust between regulatory agencies and producers (Veil, 2006). In the food industry, the need for coordination has been enhanced by industry in- gration and globalization of both markets and production. In the case of GM foods discussed earlier, disagreements between U. S. , European Union, and Canadian r- ulatory agencies fueled the debate over the safety of GM crops. Overcoming institutional and cultural barriers, and mistrust is necessary to create consistency in risk messages. Open communication and information sharing can help clarify where risk perceptions diverge and identify points of convergence. The outcome may not be universal agreement about risks, but convergence around the general parameters of risk. Summary These best practice strategies of risk communication are not designed to function as distinct steps or isolated approaches. Rather than being mutually exclusive, they serve to complement one another and create a coherent approach to confronting risk communication problems.

There are two questions often asked of risk communication: what has been learned from past work, and what is needed to push the field forward? Drawing on the experience of leading risk researchers and practitioners, Effective Risk Communication focuses on answering these questions. The book draws together new examples of research and practice from contexts as diverse as energy generation, human health, nuclear waste, climate change, food choice, and social media. This book treats risk communication as much more than the interchange of risk information between experts and non-experts; rather, it aims to emphasise the diversity in viewpoints and practices. In each specially commissioned chapter, the authors reflect on the theoretical and applied underpinnings of their best projects and comment on how their approach could be used effectively by others. Building upon each other, the chapters will provoke new discussion and action around a discipline which many feel is neither meeting important needs in practice, nor living up to its potential in research. Through a more careful examination of the work already done in risk communication, the book will help develop better, more reflective practice for the future.

This book demonstrates how a novel decision-aid, called a Benefit-Risk Characterization Theater (BRCT), can be used to: · Significantly improve accurate communication of health risks from exposure to COVID-19; and · Assess how to best contain and control COVID-19. To date, there have been far-reaching ramifications based on ineffective risk communication when clarifying these health endpoints. A BRCT is a familiar, theatrical chart representation of 1,000 people, with the risks and benefits shown by blackened seats. Since health outcomes can easily be put into such a chart, we show how BRCTs can be used objectively by professionals, the media and lay people. It allows characterization and communication of health benefits and risks of COVID-19 treatment and containment in an undemanding and straightforward way. BRCTs have been successfully used to assist patients in determining: · Their level of acceptable risk of various medical interventions; · If the benefits of intervention outweigh the risks; · Who should make the final decision regarding medical intervention; and · Whether the decision is evidence-based. Written by experts in the field, this book fills in a gap in communication between the medical community, the public and patients. It also provides an area of expertise in communication that is beneficial for medical providers and medical students.

With increased public concern regarding food safety, greater demands are placed on risk communicators to involve the public and other interested parties in an interactive dialogue and to explain the magnitude and severity of risks associated with foodborne hazards in clear and comprehensible terms that convey credibility and trustworthiness. This requires communicators to recognize and overcome gaps in knowledge as well as obstacles inherent in the uncertainties of scientific risk assessment. This document is the report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Application of Risk Communication to Food Standards and Safety Matters was held from 2-6 February 1998 at the Italian Ministry of Health, Rome.

This FAO/WHO handbook on risk communication was developed to support national food safety authorities and food chain stakeholders in establishing or enhancing risk communication practice and capacity on food safety. It further targets agriculture/agrifood and public health institutions, which frequently share governmental responsibility for food safety at the country and/or regional level. This handbook focuses on practical principles and best practices of risk communication to support risk management of adverse food safety events associated with biological, chemical or physical hazards. It addresses the use of risk communication in the process of risk analysis to manage both food safety emergencies as well as recurring food safety issues such as health promotion campaigns. Many aspects are applicable to effective risk communication in support of feed safety, animal health and zoonotic disease management.

A fully updated edition of the preeminent book on risk communication For more than a decade, Risk Communication: A Handbook for Communicating Environmental, Safety, and Health Risks has been a trusted compendium of strategies and guidance for effectively conveying risk information. Managers, scientists, engineers, students, communication specialists, healthcare professionals, agency representatives, and consultants in more than twenty countries have benefited from its contemporary, practical advice on what to do and what to avoid for successful risk communication. Now in its Fourth Edition, the handbook has been updated with expanded coverage of laws, approaches, messages, and technology-based applications such as social media, as well as all-new information on international risk communication. The handbook guides readers on: Understanding Risk Communication—Approaches to communicating risk; laws that mandate risk communication; constraints to effective risk communication; ethical issues; and principles of risk communication Planning the Risk Communication Effort—Determine purpose and objectives; analyze your audience; develop your message; determine appropriate methods; set a schedule; and develop a communication plan Putting Risk Communication into Action—Information materials; visual representation of risks; face-to-face communication; working with the media; stakeholder participation; and technology-assisted communication Evaluating Risk Communication Efforts—Why it's important to evaluate risk communication efforts; types of evaluation; and conducting the evaluation Special Cases in Risk Communication—Emergency risk communication and international risk communication Combining in-depth scientific underpinnings and the greatest breadth of information available, this book makes the topic of risk communication accessible to those who need it most. It is intended as an introduction to the field as well as a refresher and reference book for those communicating environmental, safety, and health risks in government, industry, and academia.

In this comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of risk communication, the field’s leading experts summarize theory, current research, and practice in a range of disciplines and describe effective communication approaches for risk situations in diverse contexts, such as health, environment, science, technology, and crisis. Offering practical insights, the contributors consider risk communication in all contexts and applications—interpersonal, organizational, and societal—offering a wider view of risk communication than other volumes. Importantly, the handbook emphasizes the communication side of risk communication, providing integrative knowledge about the models, audiences, messages, and the media and channels necessary for effective risk communication that enables informed judgments and actions regarding risk. Editors Hyunyi Cho, Torsten Reimer, and Katherine McComas have significantly contributed to the field of risk communication with this important reference work—a must-have for students, scholars, and risk and crisis communication professionals.