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Basic Principles

Risk Communications

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Risk Communications�Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC) and Center for Risk Communication

  • Be First
  • Be Right
  • Be Credible
  • Express Empathy
  • Promote Action
  • Show Respect

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Basic Principles

  • “When people are stressed and upset, they want to know that you care before the care what you know” – Will Rogers

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  • Expressing empathy in the first 30 seconds of communication is key to letting the audience know the answer to the “do they get it” question.

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Risk Communication Hypotheses

  • Most of the concerns and questions of upset people can be predicted in advance

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  • When people are stressed or upset, they often have difficulty hearing, understanding, and remembering information

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Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Lifecycle�

Pre-crisis

  • Prepare
  • Develop partnerships
  • Develop consensus recommendations
  • Test messages
  • Evaluate plans

Initial Response

  • Express empathy
  • Provide simple risk explanations
  • Establish credibility
  • Recommend actions
  • Make a commitment to stakeholders and the public to continue communication

Maintenance

  • Further explain risk by population groups
  • Provide more background information
  • Gain support for the response
  • Correct misinformation
  • Listen to feedback from stakeholders
  • Empower risk/benefit decision-making

Resolution

  • Educate the public for future responses
  • Examine problems
  • Promote your organization’s role

Evaluation

  • Evaluate communication plan performance
  • Document lessons learned
  • Determine specific actions to improve crisis systems

Acute

Disaster

Post-

Disaster

Pre-

Disaster

Post-Acute

Disaster

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Essentials

Five Communication Failures

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  • Mixed Messages
  • Information Released Late
  • Paternalistic Attitude
  • Not countering rumors and myths in real time
  • Public power struggles

Five Communication Successes

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  • Express Empathy
  • Show competence and expertise
  • Remain honest and open
  • Demonstrate accountability and commitment
  • Manage reputation risk

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Basic Tenets

  • Acknowledge Uncertainty
  • Acknowledge people’s fears
  • Give people things to do
  • Don’t over-reassure

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  • Explain that the process is in place to learn more
  • Give anticipatory guidance
  • Be regretful – not defensive
  • Acknowledge shared misery
  • Express wishes
  • Stop trying to allay panic
  • At some point be willing to address “what if” questions
  • Ask more of people

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Risk Communication: Key Messages

  • Risk communication is a science-based discipline
  • High stress situations change the rules of communication
  • Various models accounting for how information is received and processed
  • The key to risk communication success is anticipation, preparation, and practice

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Objectives of Risk Communication

  • Raise awareness and accurate understanding of risks
  • Restore level of thoughtfulness and solution-orientation
  • Provide information to allow better response
  • Build consensus and collaboration
  • Engage people in dialogue about appropriate behaviors and levels of concern
  • Give information on what to actually do

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Focus of Risk Communication in Disasters

  • Safety
  • Calm
  • Self and group efficacy
  • Connectedness
  • Hope

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Risk Communication Models

  • Risk Perception Model
  • Mental Noise Model
  • Negative Dominance Model
  • Trust Determination Model

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Risk Perception Model: People Are Inaccurate at Gauging Risk

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Risk Perceptions

Trustworthy sources

Under one’s control

Fair/large benefits

Voluntary

Natural origin

Children not victims

Higher Concern/Fear

Untrustworthy sources

Controlled by others

Unfair/few or unclear benefits

Involuntary

Human Origin

Children as victims

Lower Concern/Fear

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Mental Noise Model

  • Brain can’t attend to more than 3 messages (usually 7 +/- 2)
  • Under stress we process information significantly below educational level (4 levels below)
  • Focus attention on information they hear first and last – Primacy and Recency

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Negative Dominance Model

  • Negative info is attended to and weighted more in high stress situations
  • People generally put greater emphasis on losses than gains
  • Consequence: It takes multiple positive messages to balance one negative message

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Trust Determination Model

  • Trust is the most important factor in risk perception
  • Trust is built up over time and easily lost
  • Once lost, trust is hard to regain

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Trust Determination Model: How to Create Trust

  • Have a proven track record
  • Use endorsements from sources credible to the target audience
  • Trust determinations are made in first 9 to 30 seconds
  • Trust is associated with some professions (e.g. health care workers, first responders, religious leaders, and others) but also depends on individual attributes

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Operationalizing Message Format

  • Recognize mental bandwidth is limited by stress
  • Anticipate questions and design answers
  • Use optimal structure to increase chance of successful message delivery

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Message Mapping Algorithm

  • Step 1: Identify stakeholders
  • Step 2: Identify a complete list of questions and concerns for each important stakeholder group
  • Step 3: Analyze the list to identify common categories
  • Step 4: Develop key messages in response to each question or concern
  • Step 5: Develop supporting facts, information or proofs for each key message
  • Step 6: Conduct systematic message testing using people not involved in original development
  • Step 7: Plan for delivery of prepared message maps through trained spokespersons, trusted individuals and organizations, selected communication channels

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What to use for messaging?�Use 1N = 3P Template

  • 1N (Negative) Equals
  • 3P (Positive) Template

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  • “When people are stressed or upset, they typically focus more on the negative than on the positive.”
  • (Negative Dominance Principle)

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What to use for messaging? �Use 27/9/3 Template

Appropriate for shorter, action oriented communications

  • 27 Words
  • 9 Seconds
  • 3 Messages

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Message Mapping Blank

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Source: Covello and Milligan

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Message Mapping – West Nile Virus Map

Source: Covello and Milligan

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Non-Verbal Communications in High Stress Situations

  • Provide up to 75 percent of message content
  • Are intensely and quickly noticed
  • Typically override verbal content
  • Are typically interpreted negatively

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Outcomes of Effective Risk Communication

  • Enhance knowledge and understanding
  • Build, strengthen or repair trust
  • Increased appropriate behaviors and levels of concern

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References