251668 Framing the environmental health message: How values shape the way audiences interpret and act on our messages

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Nancy Serrell, MALS , Office of the Provost, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
On issues from climate change to sun tanning, research consistently shows that the lay public ranks low-probability, high-consequence risks as more concerning than professional risk assessors, who rank risks with long-term, system-level impacts as more concerning. The reason? Lay publics incorporate personal and cultural values, political views and spiritual beliefs into their risk assessments. These values influence both the perception of risk and the willingness of any one individual to take action to avoid risks. But how can public health practitioners make use of this knowledge? Can risk messages be framed in ways that resonate with personal values - or with societal values? What do scientists need to know about the framing of risk messages? Should scientists communicate about risk to the public, or should this be left to communications professionals? This Roundtable will address these issues.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe two examples of how values shape the way audiences interpret health messages.

Keywords: Health Communications, Environmental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: A science writer and former journalist, Nancy Serrell has been an invited participant and presenter on the topic of science/risk communication, outreach and research translation at numerous national meetings. Formerly the Senior Science Writer in Dartmouth’s Office of Public affairs, she has been the PI of several federally-funded projects for research translation and community outreach and has served on NIEHS grant review panels and study sections. Her masters work at Dartmouth College was in public understanding of science. She leads workshops at Dartmouth on science communication, has lectured on risk communication as a preceptor for the Dartmouth Medical School Masters in Public Health program and she has taught undergraduate classes in Environmental Journalism and science writing. She is currently a Senior Consultant for the Dartmouth Toxic Metals (Superfund) Research Program and Director of Academic Outreach for Dartmouth College.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Can you hear me now? Contemporary models and strategies in environmental health communication
See more of: Environment