Principles for Effective Risk Communication

Brenda D. Phillips, Ph.D.Oklahoma State University

Social Vulnerability to DisastersEnarson, Morrow, Peek, Thomas, Phillips, Jenkins, Gruntfest, Fordham, Davis, Clive, Hansen, Mincin, Lovekamp, Pike, Fothergill, Dash, Scandlyn, Simon, Brett, Herring,

McCoy, Passerini, Goldsmith, Stephens

Risk Communication(Tierney et al., 2001)

• RC is a process.• RC involves joint effects of source, message

and recipient characteristics.• Risk perception involves hearing,

understanding, believing and personalizing a risk.

• People deconstruct and reconstruct messages: evaluating, seeking additional information, and discussing information.

Principles for Risk Communication

• Complexity• Diversify• Redundancy• Similarity• Credibility• Specificity

Photo courtesy of Pam Jenkins and Barbara Davidson.

Complexity: Elderly Response to Warnings

(Based in part on Peek, 2010 p. 167-168)

Previous Experience

Income, Time of the Month

Gender Issues

Navigating to and in unfamiliar

environmentsTrust, Credibility

Diversify Messages• Is it in the language that

you speak?

• What is the literacy level?

• If you have a cognitive disability can you interpret and respond to the message as it is intended?

Flesch-Kincaid Method(based on Morrow 2010)

• Calculate L – average sentence length (number of words/number of sentences)

• Calculate N – average number of syllables per word (number of syllables/number of words

• Calculate grade level with formula: (L x 0.39) + (N x 11.8) – 15.59

• Calculate reading age with formula: (L x 0.39) + (N x 11.8) – 10.59

• Microsoft Word has a version of the Flesch-Kincaid in its software. It can be accessed through the Spelling and Grammar function.

Diversify Channels(Tierney, et al. 2001; Dash 2010; Cutter 2005)

• “significant differences between channels community residents use most and those they prefer” (Tierney et al. 2001)

• “the same social structures that isolate minority populations in segregated communities also impact the warning messages they receive” (Dash 2010).

Social Media?

• With caution– Age issues– Income issues

• Rapid dissemination• “I survived the Oklahoma

blizzard of Christmas Eve”• “I joined the evacuation for

Hurricane X”• It is one tool for the

diversified toolkit.• TREND: Internet Officers.

Redundancy

• We may not always be watching or listening the channels that are used, or we could be unable to hear, see or afford to access those channels.

• People need time to process and respond to the message.

We need to transmit messages through multiple channels multiple times.

(FEMA News Photo)

Similarity(FEMA News Photos)

Credibility:through trusted locations, familiar faces

• Florida/Alabama Safe Center/Senior Centers– “Blue roofs”

• Multi-purpose• Ties directly to the

population in need.

Message Specificity Effective Emergency Management

National Council on Disability, August 2009“Design warning messages so

that they incorporate instructions for people with disabilities on how to take protective action for the impending hazard”

“People with disabilities must be invited to the emergency planning table”

“Build strong relationships with area disability organizations, advocates…”

www.ncd.gov, select Publications and 2009

What would happen if we…..• Designed warning systems that reflect the

complexity of people’s lives?• Designed and tested warning messages with the

user audiences?• Showed people with disabilities navigating an

unfamiliar shelter?• Tapped into social networks that people trust

and believe?• Use a process that redundant, diverse messaging

as a given for communicating risk?

Points of Intervention

Previous Experience

Support early release of

entitlements

Barbershops, men’s prayer

breakfast

Link warnings to shelter locations;

show themSenior centers,

family members

Transforming vulnerability into capacity

Dr. Alan Clive, FEMA (Co-author, Chapter 8 Disability)