Crisis & Risk Communication Guidelines, Reports, & Relevant Peer Reviewed Research Papers

  Documents in English

  • Aakko E. (2004). Risk Communication, Risk Perception, and Public Health. Wisconsin Medical Society; 103: 25-27.
    • Two-page document by Eric Aakko, from the Bureau of Environmental Health, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, USA, which defines risk communication and risk perception and summarizes key studies relating to effective risk communication in the public health context.
  • Chandler C., Fairhead J., Kelly A., et al. (2015). Ebola: limitations of correcting misinformation. The Lancet; 385: 1275-1277.
    • The authors of this Lancet Comment, members of the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform, question the assumption that messaging based only biomedical facts can always correct local logic, concerns, and rumors. It is argued that most effective approaches to managing an Ebola like crisis are likely to be diverse. locally sustainable and developed with respect for local cultures and beliefs.
  • Dalrymple K.E., Young R., Tully M. (2016). “Facts, Not Fear”. Science Communication; 38: 442-467.
    • This paper uses analysis from the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis to evaluate ways to manage uncertainty during emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

 

  • Fast S.M., Mekaru S., Brownstein J.S., et al. (2015). The Role of Social Mobilization in Controlling Ebola Virus in Lofa County, Liberia. PLoS Currents Outbreaks; 1.  
    • Using data from the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis in Liberia, this study models the spread of the Ebola virus with and without behavior change. This research highlights the importance of risk communication and awareness induced behavior changed in curbing the Ebola outbreak in Liberia.
  • Institute of Medicine. (2010). The 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination Campaign: Summary of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
    • The Institute of Medicine held a number of workshops to gather lessons learned from the vaccination campaigns during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in the U.S. The participants’ past experiences, strategies, and recommendations are summarized in this report.
  • Jacobsen K.H., Aguirre A.A., Bailey C.L., et al. (2016). Lessons from the Ebola Outbreak: Actions Items for Emerging Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. EcoHealth; 13.
    • This article provides a list of actions items and research priorities the global community can take to improve preparedness for future infectious disease crisis, including strengthening risk communication capacities by engaging with local social scientists, as well as better understanding the role of social media in effective communication.
  • Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University. (2016). Ebola Risk Communication Project in Liberia: Lessons in Crisis Communication.
    • This report by the Milken Institute School of Public Health provides insights into the channels, types, and reliability of information shared with the Liberian population during the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis. The data analyzed in this report reveal ways and areas to improve with regard to future crisis communication strategies.
  • Ropeik D. (2007). Risk Communication, an overlooked took for improving Public Health. Maxey-Rosenau-Last Public Health and Preventive Medicine: Fifteenth Edition: McGraw Hill Professional.
    • This book chapter outlines the evolution of the definition of risk communications and explains how the biology of fear and the psychology of risk perception can provide insight into developing better risk communications strategies while using real life events and crises.
  • Toppenberg-Pejcic D., Noyes J., Allen T., et al. (2018). Emergency Risk Communication: Lessons Learned from a Rapid Review of Recent Gray Literature on Ebola, Zika, and Yellow Fever. Health Communication.
    • A review of gray literature from 2015 to 2016 was conducted to identify the lessons learned for emergency risk communication from recent outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, and yellow fever. The literature highlights the importance of local communities. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work. For maximum effectiveness, local communities need to be involved with and own emergency risk communication processes, preferably well before an emergency occurs. Social media can open new avenues for communication, but is not a general panacea and should not be viewed as a replacement for traditional modes of communication. In general, the gray literature indicates movement toward greater recognition of emergency risk communication as a vitally important element of public health.
  • Shrivastava S.R., Shrivastava P.S., Ramasamy J. (2016). Risk Communication: An Integral Element in Public Health Emergencies. International Journal of Preventive Medicine; 7: 12.
    • This letter to the Editor of the International Journal of Preventive medicine explains the importance of risk communication is preventing and responding to public health crises.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO). (2004). Best practices for communicating with the public during an outbreak.
    • This report was developed by WHO after the SARS epidemic. The first half of the report focuses on past outbreak experiences and describes the communication challenges. The second half turns these past experiences into best practices and recommendations for communication during an outbreak.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO). (2005). Outbreak Communication Guidelines. 
    • This document was developed by WHO following an extensive literature review on risk communications during infectious disease outbreaks – the results of this review are summarized here in a step by step list of best practices.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO). (2015). Chapter 7: Risk and crisis communication in: Endericks T, McCloskey B, Vincent E, et al., eds. Public Health For Mass Gathering: Key Considerations. Geneva: WHO Publishing.
    • Book chapter developed by WHO describing best practice in risk communication in the context of mass gathering. The recommendation provided in this chapter can be applied to many public health emergency situations, including infectious disease outbreaks.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO). Risk Communication in the context of Zika virus 2016.
    • This document developed by WHO provides interim step by step guidance for communicating risk around Zika virus, its transmission channels and the potential implications of infection.
  • All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa, Polygeia. (2016). Lessons from Ebola Affected Communities: Being prepared for future health crises. ​
    • This report is written by Polygeia and commissioned by the Africa APPG with fieldwork funding from the Royal African Society. Overall, this report highlights the importance of prioritizing local ownership and community level investments when ensuring preparedness and response capacity to respond to public health crises. It also analyzes the role of local leaders, faith leaders and the youth in effective risk communication and community engagement activities during the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO). (2005). The International Health Regulations.
    • The International Health Regulations (IHR) are an international legal instrument that binds 196 countries in the aim of helping the international community to prevent and respond to acute public health risks.
  • World Health Organization. (2018). Managing Epidemics: Key facts about major deadly diseases.
    • The 21st century has already been marked by major epidemics. Old diseases – cholera, plague and yellow fever – have returned, and new ones have emerged – SARS, pandemic influenza, MERS, Ebola and Zika. This manual provides concise and up-to-date knowledge on 15 infectious diseases that have the potential to become international threats, risk communication rips, and suggestions on how to respond to the diseases.
  • Spadicini B.M. (2015). Tracking Rumors to Contain Disease: The Case of DeySay in Liberia’s Ebola Outbreak. USAID.
    • This 2015 USAID blog post describes the innovative way USAID’s Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) initiative designed the DeySay SMS system, which used local healthcare workers and text messages to monitor, track and report rumors about Ebola across Liberia, allowing for more effective rumor tracking and debunking.
  • The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). (2014). Risk Communication Checklist for Ebola. ​
    • A Risk Communication Action Planned developed by PAHO outlining steps for the implementation of a national risk communication for Ebola.
  • Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (2016). Basic Guidance for Public Information Officers.
    • This guideline document was developed in coordination with Federal, State, tribal, and local Public Information Officers for the Federal Management Agency. It provides operational recommendations for Public Information Officers working within the Incident Command System.

 

Documents in French [Document en Francais]:

  • Seytre B. Les Errances de la Communication sur la Maladie a Virus Ebola. Bulletin de la Societe de Pathologie Exotique Lavoisier.
    • This article reviews the different risk communications strategies used across different West African countries during the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis, highlighting the importance of a flexible and situation-adaptable risk communication strategy.