Basic Risk Communication

Session:
There are currently no more scheduled sessions. Please check back at a later date.

Description:
This foundational course will provide participants with the basics of risk communication concepts during emergencies, the importance of understanding risk perception psychology, and the application of this understanding to the development of public messages. Participants will learn how to apply course concepts using practical tools and approaches.

Educational Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define risk communication and crisis communication as unique disciplines and establish their respective and vital role in managing human behavior in emergencies.
• Describe how risk communication consists of key messages as well as actions.
• Explain the psychological/emotional aspects of how people perceive and respond to risk, the impact of stress, and how these psychological aspects pose obstacles for overall risk management in emergency situations.
• Explain, using concrete examples, how using risk perception psychology can help develop actions and public messages as part of an overall risk communication response to health emergencies.
• Apply course concepts through interactive and participatory teaching including development of a risk communication plan. 

                                                                       
Faculty:
David Ropeik is an author, award-winning television reporter, teacher, consultant, and public speaker.  For the past decade, his focus has been on understanding and applying a better framework for how people perceive risk, to the challenge of risk communication and overall risk management in emergencies. Mr. Ropeik is the author of “How Risky Is It, Really?: Why Our Fears Don’t Match the Facts,” published by McGraw-Hill in 2010. He is co-author of “RISK, a Practical Guide for Deciding What’s Dangerous and What’s Safe in the World Around You,” published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2002. 
                                               
Mr. Ropeik was a television news reporter in Boston for 22 years, specializing in coverage of environmental and science issues. He is the winner of two DuPont-Columbia Awards, often cited as the television equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Ropeik has taught courses on media coverage of risk issues at Harvard School of Public Health, Kennedy School of Government, Neiman Fellowship Program at Harvard, Knight Science Journalism Fellowship program at MIT, Boston University’s Program in Science Journalism, Emerson College program in Health Communication, and to the National Association of Science Writers, the Council for the Advancement of Science Writers, and the Society of Environmental Journalists. Mr. Ropeik has appeared on significant television newscasts and numerous regional radio stations nationwide. Mr. Ropeik has also worked with the Office of the White House Communications Director and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security among many other Federal agencies and hundreds of businesses nationally and internationally.

Accreditation:
Application has been made for 7.2 hours of nursing continuing education credits.
The approval number for EMT credits in the amount of 6 hours is 118036.

This training, is supported through a contract with the Emergency Preparedness Bureau at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, with funding from the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Program.