Warren K. Sinclair Keynote Address: PaperRISK COMMUNICATION, RADIATION, AND RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCIES: STRATEGIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUESCovello, Vincent T.* Author Information * Center for Risk Communication, 415 East 52nd Street, Suite 3DA, New York, NY 10022. For correspondence contact the author at the above address, or email at [email protected]. (Manuscript accepted 16 June 2011) Health Physics 101(5):p 511-530, November 2011. | DOI: 10.1097/HP.0b013e3182299549 Buy Metrics Abstract Risk communication is the two-way exchange of information about risks, including risks associated with radiation and radiological events. The risk communication literature contains a broad range of strategies for overcoming the psychological, sociological, and cultural factors that create public misperceptions and misunderstandings about risks. These strategies help radiation risk communicators overcome the challenges posed by three basic observations about people under stress: (1) people under stress typically want to know that you care before they care about what you know; (2) people under stress typically have difficulty hearing, understanding, and remembering information; (3) people under stress typically focus more on negative information than positive information. ©2011Health Physics Society
