Emergency Risk Communication in China: A Pilot Project for Adapting Western Concepts to Chinese Culture

In 2006 the Ministry of Health in China, China CDC, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated to develop draft guidelines for emergency risk communication for use by health authorities in China during a public health emergency. The guidelines include principles for effective risk communication with the public and communication coordination between agencies responding to emergencies. Health communication experts from U.S. CDC provided technical consultation and training in emergency risk communication principles developed in the U.S., emergency message development, and message testing as part of this process. In January 2007, training and emergency risk communication message development and testing were conducted in 2 cities in Fujian Province, China to determine 1) whether training in the risk communication principles from the guidelines would be effective in helping local Chinese health authorities to better communicate with the public during an emergency, and 2) whether the risk communication principles (originating in U.S.) and incorporated into China's guidelines were effective for Chinese public audiences. This paper will describe the process and model used for adapting and testing Western principles of emergency risk communication in a pilot test in China, and the outcomes of that training and testing. In addition, recommendations for refinement of emergency risk communication will be presented, with implications for use of the training and testing model in other nations.