About the Risk Communication Section

Cheryl Anderson, Environmental Health ExpertIn this section of the course you will learn some basics about risk communication from Cheryl Anderson, the environmental health expert who will be your mentor during this case.  You will receive an inquiry and information from a very concerned citizen.  Cheryl will share some advice and tools to use when responding to a citizen's inquiry or request, including: a protocol for risk assessment and communication, a method for framing the issues in a citizen's inquiry, a log for tracking inquiries from the public and the department's responses.  This section ends with your phone call to the concerned citizen.

Cheryl says: People in your position get calls from citizens who are concerned about illness, quite often cancer, which they believe is caused by an environmental contaminant. It’s not easy to tell if a health condition is related to an environmental exposure, but your callers expect prompt, credible answers.

When you interact with people in the community, the information has to flow in both directions. Two-way communication is at the heart of your work…you can’t be truly effective without it. There are many resources for you to explore this topic. A good place to start is the ATSDR Primer on Health Risk Communication Principles and Practices, specifically the section called "Seven Cardinal Rules of Risk Communication." To continue with this case study, click on "Letter from citizen" in the left frame or "next" below. You can also click on the "Resources" button above.

Seven Cardinal Rules:

  1. Accept and involve the public as partner
  2. Plan carefully and eveluate your efforts
  3. Listen to the public's cpecific concerns
  4. Be honest, frank, and open.
  5. Work with other credible sources
  6. Meet the needs of the media
  7. Speak clearly and with compassion.

Navigation tip: Each of these tasks are listed in the "Risk Communication" folder in the navigation outline window to the left.  If the folder labeled "Risk Communication" is open, you will see the tasks listed below it.  If the folder is closed, click on the plus sign (+) and the folder will open and the list will appear.   The tasks are listed in the recommended order for proceeding through the case by clicking on each task in the outline. Or you can click on the "Next" highlight at the bottom.   When you are through with a section, you may wish to click on the subtraction sign (-) to close the folder.

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