Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105913

Ricardo J. Wray, PhD, Health Communication Research Laboratory, School of Public Health, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104, 314-977-4075, wray@slu.edu, Steven M. Becker, PhD, Dept. of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, 1665 University Boulevard, Room 530, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, Deborah C. Glik, ScD, School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, P.O. Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, Gary E. Raskob, PhD, Health Promotion Sciences, University of Oklahoma, 801 NE13th St. PO Box 26901, Oklahoma City, OK 73190, and Betsy Mitchell, PhD, Office of Health Communication, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Traceway, Sanford, NC 27332.

The Pre-Event Message Development Project was precipitated by the public communication challenges experienced during the anthrax attacks of 2001. For three years research teams at four schools of public health conducted comparable qualitative formative research to ascertain information demands and media preferences from the general public, and to inform development and pre-testing of message materials for television, radio, web, and print distribution. Over 80 focus groups and 120 cognitive interviews were conducted with diverse urban and rural audience segments across the country. Analysis of data shaped key recommendations for content, format, and distribution of emergency information designed for release in the event of a terrorist attack using biological, chemical, or radiological (dirty bomb) agents. In a systematic review of published research in public health, risk communication, and the preparedness fields, study results were subjected to theoretical and empirical verification, This session reports findings of the verification analysis, synthesizing common and disparate evidence, principles, and lessons learned across the four research sites related to risk perceptions, public communication needs, and message and dissemination strategies for emergency response communication. Core principles and lessons learned include: specification of message content for key action steps for protection of self and family; primary information seeking via television and radio followed by internet and print media; specification of information need by location in relation to attack; and preference for accurate, timely and complete communication on the part of government agencies responding to emergencies.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand informational needs of the public in the event of a terrorist attack using biological, chemical, or radiological (dirty bomb) agents.
• Understand information seeking strategies of the public in the event of a terrorist attack using biological, chemical, or radiological (dirty bomb) agents.
• Understand responsibility of government agencies in providing accurate, timely and complete information to the public to enhance safety and public health in the event of a terrorist attack.

Keywords: Bioterrorism, Risk Communication

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation