In Resilient Nation (pdf) I suggest that the main concern with how government’s approach risk communication is not always what they say but how they say it. Often the failure of emergency planners to motivate communities is the failure to accommodate the fact that it is not information that determines action but how people interpret it – which they do in the context of their experiences and beliefs, and expectations that develop in and are sustained by the community and societal contexts in which they live.
So communicating risk (such as swine flu) demands a nuanced, intelligent and multi-pronged approach. Mass communication based on a single approach (leafleting) won’t be effective – not least because it will fail to penetrate the noise already generated by the event; is slow when the potential risk is perceived to be spreading quickly; and ironically is unlikely to reach your whole audience (btw if you don’t receive your leaflet please contact us).
Instead the goverment should adopt a more targeted approach (which it can’t really do now the NHS have said they will send leaflets to 25,000,000 households) and look at where the most obvious places are to communicate their key messages.The information needs to stick as well. For example contrast these two approaches on the NHS website: The alert and the ‘behind the headlines’- what message did you take away? The NHS also suggests people should establish a network of “flu friends” . Useful but it would have been good if the NHS had thought about taking a networked approach to communicating the risk in the first place.
Finally – and as an antidote to some of the scaremongering in a lot of the press – read Caroline Gammell in The Telegraph and a piece by Simon Jenkins today in the Guardian though David is unimpressed).
And remember, preventing the spread of germs is the single most effective way to slow the spread of diseases such as swine flu. You should always:
* Ensure everyone washes their hands regularly with soap and water
* Clean surfaces regularly to get rid of germs
* Use tissues to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze
* Place used tissues in a bin as soon as possible
