Creating emergency preparedness and response messages for African Americans

Assuring quality, accessible, and appropriate communication for special populations is a vital component of planning for emergencies across the commonwealth. At the same time, creation of messages and materials that effectively reach African Americans regarding emergency preparedness is complicated by issues of trust and credibility. The challenge and necessity of doing this well has been further complicated by the Katrina/ Gulf coast disaster. Utilizing information from recent public opinion poll data, Massachusetts Department of Public Health designed a study utilizing know risk communication variables to provide insight into Massachusetts African American resident's perception of risk, decision making, and evaluation of policy response. The study included two categories of risk. The first category was disease oriented (e.g. influenza, smallpox, avian flu). The second category was disaster oriented and included examples such as blizzard, hurricanes, mudslides, and explosions. The study asked information regarding knowledge and beliefs; behavioral responses; information sources: and support for policy response measures. The data will be used to craft more effective messages and utilize mediums that will further facilitate the understanding and acceptance of emergency preparedness information and response in the African American community.