Responding to Risk: Understanding Why We Do What We Do and What to Say When It Really Counts

Overview:

This is a recording of a live webinar on August 16, 2023. 

People are predictable. Unfortunately, the world around us rarely is as easy to predict or understand. Public health professionals are called on to respond to scary, unknown, urgent, and important issues every day in big and small ways. Learning strategies for risk communication can make this work a little bit easier and a lot more effective. This webinar introduces basic concepts of risk communication as well as the critical principles of how to communicate during an outbreak, crisis or emergency situation.  This training also provides insights into how and why people respond to risk, and helps participants understand the mental shortcuts that are common responses to hazards, risks, and threats. Practical tips are presented throughout to help participants gain skills in assessing and responding to their individual situations in their communities. 

Dr. Cynthia Jorgensen is an Adjunct Professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, with joint appointments in the Department of Behavioral, Social and Health Education Sciences and the Executive MPH Program. Dr. Jorgensen recently retired from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she was the Associate Director for Communication, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. In this role, she oversaw the communications efforts for a variety of vaccine-preventable and respiratory diseases and was actively engaged in CDC’s COVID-19 response. While at CDC for more than 30 years, Dr. Jorgensen applied her expertise in behavioral science and health communications to the development and implementation of several award-winning campaigns in hepatitis, cancer, genomics, and HIV/AIDS. Cynthia has held numerous leadership positions, including Chair of CDC’s Behavior and Social Sciences Working Group (BSSWG) and President of the National Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE). Cynthia received her doctoral degree in Health Behavior and Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her BA/MA in Health Communications from Boston University.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Define risk communication and the nuances when applied to an impending threat, an emergency, a crisis, or emergency crisis   
• Explain how perceptions of risk differ among lay vs experts   
• List tactics and approaches that are used to communicate about risk  
• List at least four mental short cuts that can affect people’s perception of risk  
• Describe the importance of timeliness, transparency, and consistency when communicating about threats or hazards  
• List the three factors that influence perceptions of trustworthiness  
• Understand how to apply the ten principles of risk communication to a selected scenario 

CERTIFICATE:  The course contains two modules: a module to access the webinar and an evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard.