Health Risk Communication and Media

Author(s):  
Banu Kumbasar

Risk communication is a concept defined by many organizations like World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Effective risk communication is a complex process. It is an interactive process of exchange of information and opinion among individuals, groups, and institutions. Risk communication is part of the risk management process, with the primary aims to promote awareness and understanding of risks. In the risk management process, risk communication is at the center. There are a number of approaches to the process of risk communication and its components, including how messages are sent and received. The management of public health outbreaks has always included a specific communication component in the form of warnings, risk messages, evacuation notifications, messages regarding self-efficacy, information regarding symptoms, and medical treatment, among many others. Media can play a significant role for raising awareness of the health issues. But the difficulty is to find the right channel of communication for the target audience.

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Denise Sackett ◽  
Tala Dajani ◽  
David Shoup ◽  
Uzoma Ikonne

The benefits of breastfeeding are well established. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that mothers breastfeed infants for at least one year, but most children are not breastfed that long because of many factors. Breastfeeding mothers face many challenges to continued breastfeeding, including medical conditions that arise during this period, such as postpartum depression and lactational mastitis. Because of a perceived lack of consistent guidance on medication safety, it can be difficult for the family physician to treat these conditions while encouraging mothers to continue breastfeeding. The purpose of the current review is to summarize and clarify treatment options for the osteopathic family physician treating lactating mothers. We specifically focus on the pharmacological management of contraception, postpartum depression, and lactational mastitis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142110249
Author(s):  
Huriye Toker

As seen clearly from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health is an important foreign policy and diplomatic issue connected with security, economic well-being, and international development. According to risk communication researchers, effective, transparent, and timely information sharing is the most important tool after vaccines for responding to pandemics. This study aims to start a scholarly discussion on the risk communication efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 outbreak. We analyzed WHO’s communication efforts during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the leading international health organization, WHO was responsible for providing rapid, up-to-date, and credible information for the public and the media. The selected research items were 42 news releases and statements provided by WHO between December 31, 2019, and March 30, 2020. These were subjected to qualitative and quantitative content analyses using the NVivo 12 qualitative analysis software program for coding. The data were coded under 6 variables (date of publication, topics, frequency, wording of the COVID-19 outbreak, sourcing, and themes of the releases). While 54.7% of WHO's communications were devoted to the COVID-19 outbreak, more than half were not issued until March. That is, instead of early risk communication and clear warnings about the outbreak, WHO acted overcautiously, preferring messages related to solidarity and cooperation during the most devastating pandemic of the 21st century.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Deganit Kobliner-Friedman, RN, MPH ◽  
Ofer Merin, MD ◽  
Eran Mashiach, MD ◽  
Reuven Kedar, MD ◽  
Shai Schul, MHA ◽  
...  

Emergency medical teams (EMTs) encounter chaos upon arriving at the scene of a disaster. Rescue efforts are utilitarian and focus on providing the technical aspects of medical care in order to save the most lives at the expense of the individual. This often neglects the basic healthcare rights of the patient. The Sphere Project was initiated to develop universal humanitarian standards for disaster response.The increase in the number of EMTs led the World Health Organization (WHO) to organize standards for disaster response. In 2016, the WHO certified the Israel Defense Forces Field Hospital (IDF-FH) as the first to be awarded the highest level of accreditation (EMT-3). This paper presents the IDF-FH’s efforts to protect the patient’s healthcare rights in a disaster zone based on the Sphere Principles.These core Sphere Principles include the right to professional medical treatment; the right to dignity, privacy, and confidentiality; the right for information in an understandable language; the right to informed consent; the obligation to maintain private medical records; the obligation to adhere to universal ethical standards, to respect culture and custom and to care for vulnerable populations; the right to protection from sexual exploitation and violence; and the right to continued treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-353
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn M. Forristal ◽  
John M. Laux ◽  
Madeline Clark ◽  
Jennifer L. Reynolds ◽  
Taylor M. Nelson

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have documented an increase in fat people in recent decades, which is being met with a backlash of anti-fat biases, or fatmisia. Fatmisia is prevalent in most aspects of society, especially among fat people who have internalized fatmisia. Utilizing a diagnostic questionnaire in combination with the Fat Phobia Scale–Short Form and the Weight Bias Internalization Scale, this study explored the relationship between client body size, the presence of a major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis, and if applicable, the severity of MDD symptoms assigned by counselor trainees (N = 113). Results were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and covariance. This sample (N = 113) significantly differed in diagnoses assigned to obese clients by assigning more severe MDD. Study limitations and implications are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vidyanidhi Gumma ◽  
Kyle DeGruy ◽  
Davara Bennett ◽  
Thanh Nguyen Thi Kim ◽  
Heidi Albert ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Following the endorsement of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2010, Viet Nam’s National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) began using GeneXpert instruments in NTP laboratories. In 2013, Viet Nam’s NTP implemented an Xpert MTB/RIF external quality assurance (EQA) program in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND). Proficiency-testing (PT) panels comprising five dried tube specimens (DTS) were sent to participating sites approximately twice a year from October 2013 to July 2016. The number of enrolled laboratories increased from 22 to 39 during the study period. Testing accuracy was assessed by comparing reported and expected results; percentage scores were assigned; and feedback reports were provided to sites. On-site evaluation (OSE) was conducted for underperforming laboratories. The results from the first five rounds demonstrate the positive impact of PT and targeted OSE visits on testing quality. On average, for every additional round of feedback, the odds of achieving PT scores of ≥80% increased 2.04-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.39- to 3.00-fold). Future work will include scaling up PT to all sites and maintaining the performance of participating laboratories while developing local panel production capacity.


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