Improving communication between community activists and state agencies in addressing environmental health concerns

Background

Communities facing potential environmental exposures often feel government environmental health agencies are not adequately addressing their concerns regarding risk. If communities feel their concerns are not taken seriously and do not believe the agencies' messages, a lack of understanding and distrust occurs. Perceptions about environmental health factor into a community's sense of well-being.

Objective

The study objectives include the assessment of current methods of risk communication and the perceptions of risk held by two communities hosting municipal solid waste incinerators and state agencies during environmental exposure investigations. This assessment was used to create a set of recommendations to promote better working relationships and the acceptance of investigation findings.

Methods

Convenience surveys of the communities were conducted to examine the sources of knowledge and perceptions about environmental health information. Individual interviews with community activists and state employees were conducted to examine the experiences that shaped their perceptions of current risk communication methods.

Results

Results, though not finalized, indicate that determining communication barriers, clarifying misconceptions and engaging in cooperation between community activists and state agencies during environmental health investigations maximizes the knowledge, comprehension and acceptance of findings and results in better relationships. Concerns about the time commitments needed from both organizations were acknowledged.

Conclusion

Potential conclusions include the creation of a staffed community health liaison. Their role would be to aid the risk communication process and relieve the stress and commitment from both organizations. Utilization techniques will be employed to communicate risk information via the determined effective media channels.