Within the growing concern about the short-term and lasting impacts of natural hazard-based disasters on lives, livelihoods and economies, the ability to manage disaster and climate risk is central to sustainable development. As many recent disasters are directly or indirectly related to weather or climate, and with the expectation that climate variability and change may exacerbate the frequency and/or intensity of related hazards and extreme weather events, climate information has become a critical component of disaster and climate risk management. However, despite its increasing use, as well as money, time and effort into gathering and processing the relevant data, few studies highlight the connection between climate information and development outcomes. Using a Caribbean lens, this dissertation explores how the awareness, provision and use of weather and climate information, including storm advisories/forecasts and satellite-based rainfall data, may be linked to development outcomes, both in terms of localized impacts of weather- and climate-related events but also within the wider macro-economy. I explore if development outcomes may vary by event day-of-week timing (hypothesizing a relation to possible differences in climate information provision), study whether there may be a human element of improving climate information, and analyze climate information details to best understand its potential use in Caribbean small states. Such research aligns well with ongoing efforts to understand and predict extreme events, as well as connect disasters to socio-economic outcomes, and can also enrich perspectives which concern assessing vulnerability to disasters and recommending solutions to improve risk communication and strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience.

Loss prevention and distribution must begin well before a flood event at multiple levels. However, the benchmarks and terminology we use to manage and communicate flood risk may be working against this goal. U.S. flood policy is based upon a flood with a one percent chance of occurring in any year. Commonly called the "hundred year flood," it has been upheld as a policy criterion, but many have questioned the effectiveness of hundred year flood terminology in public communication. This research examined public perceptions of the hundred year flood and evaluated the comparative effectiveness of this term and two other methods used to frame the benchmark flood: a flood with a one percent chance of occurring in any year and a flood with a 26 percent chance of occurring in thirty years. This research also explored how flooding and flood risk messages fit into the larger context of people's lives by modeling the relationships between flood related understanding, attitude and behavior and the situational and cognitive contexts in which these factors are embedded. The final goal was to come up with locally based suggestions for improving flood risk communication. Data were collected in the Towns of Union and Vestal, New York. Participants were adult residents of single family homes living in one of two FEMA designated floodplains. Face to face surveys and focus groups were used to gather information on respondents' flood experience and loss mitigation activities; general perception of flood risk and cause; flood information infrastructure; perceptions associated with specific flood risk descriptions; and basic demographic data. Focus groups were also asked to suggest improvements to flood risk communication. Results indicated that experience was the most influential factor in perception and behavior. Additionally, there was little evidence that understanding led to "appropriate" behavior. The 26 percent chance description was the most effective when both understanding and persuasion were included, but interpretations of probabilistic flood risk messages were highly individualized. Finally, regulatory practice likely influences attitude and behavior and may emphasize the likelihood of a particular flood at the expense of the possibility of flooding in general.

The goal of this study is to determine issues rural Appalachian residents consider most important, their perceived environmental health risk, and how community engagement can potentially improve those issues. The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center held the Appalachian Community Health and Well-being Forum at the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Office in Eastern Kentucky. A four-member panel consisted of two local health officials, a nutrition expert, and a federal scientist; answered questions from community members. The expert panel and audience members shared concerns, success stories, and highlighted efforts to promote health in the region. Community members completed a questionnaire collecting information on perceived environmental health risk, fruit and vegetable intake, and basic demographic information. The concerns raised by community members were chronic disease, poverty, pollution, mental health, and wellness. Proposed solutions were compliance, nutrition, physical activity, education, empathy, funding, community engagement, awareness, holistic health, prevention, and insurance/policy change. The programs in place to combat these issues are FARMACY, Community Health Workers, transportation services, mobile dental vans, Kentucky River Watershed Watch, research, policy changes, and the CLIK program. The questionnaire showed that residents are aware of the types of pollution in their community and believe that illness is caused by pollution in their environment. Community residents feel that pollution is not something they should have to live with, they act to protect themselves from pollution, and likely to engage in community efforts to stop pollution in their community.

Background. CRC risk can be reduced though lifestyle modification and regular screenings. Providing CRC risk feedback that promotes preventive behaviors to those at average risk has the potential to significantly reduce CRC morbidity and mortality. Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the impact of CRC risk assessment feedback among adults aged 50-75 with no personal or family history of the disease. The specific aims were to: (1a) test personalized (vs. generic) risk assessment feedback on individuals’ risk perceptions and intentions to engage in three risk-reducing behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet, and screening); (1b) determine if the provision of CRC risk information influences breast cancer risk perceptions and mammography intentions; (2a) examine individuals’ accuracy of perceived lifetime risk of CRC; (2b) assess whether improved accuracy following risk assessment was associated with changes in behavioral intentions; and finally, (3) evaluate the use of a unique sampling procedure designed to increase diversity of survey respondents. Methods. A pre-post parallel, two arm randomized controlled trial examined the effects of providing CRC risk assessment feedback that included lifetime risk estimates and information about CRC risk factors that was either personalized (treatment) or generic (control). N=419 average risk adults between the ages of 50-75 were recruited from a commercial online panel. Results. There were no differences in risk perception between study arms. Overall participants, perceived lifetime risk of CRC lowered at post-test and seemingly produced a spillover effect in lowered perceived lifetime risk of breast cancer among females. CRC screening intentions increased in both study arms and mammography intentions increased in the control arm. Accuracy of lifetime risk improved at post-test, but was not associated with changes in intentions to perform risk reducing behaviors. Quota sampling acquired a targeted and diverse sample quickly and efficiently. Conclusion. Communicating CRC risk information to average risk adults can improve CRC risk perception accuracy and enhance colorectal and mammography screening intentions. Risk assessment feedback did not consistently influence intentions to improve diet and physical activity.

In Iowa, the state with the largest percent of its land used for agriculture (90 percent) in the nation, compromised water quality is a chief concern among experts. The primary problem is related to the negative environmental impacts caused by nutrient runoff from fields. Although several innovative land-management practices have demonstrated nutrient reduction potential and other soil health related benefits, the practices are not widely utilized on Iowa farm fields. Thus, water quality is at the center of a contentious debate in the state and many farmers are receiving contradictory advice depending on the source of the information. Media and interpersonal communication channels play a primary role in disseminating environmental risk information to the public and farmers (Katz & Lazarfeld, 1955; Rogers, 2010). However, little is known about the way contradictory risk information may shape farmer’s conceptualizations of the water problems in Iowa. Correspondingly, little is known regarding the individuals who are most influential to farmer’s behaviors related to these water issues. To address the potential communication process problems resulting from the clashing ideologies related to the environment and agriculture, this study seeks to investigate the flow of information and networks of influence within the agricultural community in Eastern Iowa. Three studies are conducted to address media, interpersonal, and risk communication components at play in this context. Because mass media are a key source of risk information for the public (McCallum, Hammond, & Covello, 1991; Morton & Duck, 2001; Ho et al., 2013) the first study consists of a thematic textual analysis of online news articles about Iowa’s water quality. A total of 305 articles, published by the Des Moines Register (DMR), Iowa Farmer Today (IFT), and the Farm Bureau Spokesman (FBS), are examined. Themes related to key narratives about Iowa’s water quality problems and the way risks and uncertainty are conveyed in the articles is also investigated. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data was collected to document the types of organizations and key spokespeople used as informational sources in the articles. Findings demonstrate that some messages simultaneously place the blame for causing and the responsibility for solving the problem on the farmers; while others suggest that nutrient excesses are not anthropogenic, are natural, expected, weather dependent, and uncontrollable. Based on the media sources themselves, and the organizations and individuals cited in the articles, this distinction reflects a preeminent pro-agriculture versus pro-environment ideological divide in Iowa. The second study examines farmers’ perspectives on the nutrient issues in Iowa, including their risk perceptions, and preferred sources of information on water quality, both mediated and interpersonal. The study utilizes intercept interviews conducted over a two-month period between July and September 2016 in Middle and Easter Iowa. Analysis of risk perceptions, uncertainty levels, and current mitigation practices revealed a pattern of lower environmental risk perceptions associated with adoption of fewer nutrient reducing practices, and greater uncertainty regarding current nutrient levels. The third and final study built upon data from the previous study and involved in-depth interviews with the individuals who were identified as influential to farmer’s water related land management practices. Definitions of influencers from the level of the individual (i.e., self-identification as an influential), community (i.e., identification of an influential by other farmers), and media narratives (i.e., identification of an influential in an article or media source), in addition to definitions of influentials from previous literature were compared. Findings revealed that influence is highly related to employment position and opportunity to communicate with multiple, various farmers. Personal motivation for engaging in persuasive communication efforts with farmers was revealed as an important factor which may help strengthen theoretical conceptualizations of influential individuals within social networks. This project is a study of environmental communication products, processes, and effects and sought to disentangle the relationships between the risk representation and perception, and influence within agricultural network information flow—an area of research currently lacking. Results help extend scholarship in these areas and illuminate the differing conceptualizations of these variables by mainstream media, agricultural industry media, influential individuals, and agricultural producers themselves. This improved understanding paves the way for subsequent research and intervention efforts to communicate more productively with farmers. The effects of such efforts could help redirect negativity and blame away from farmers, and towards a more productive and holistic approach to solving Iowa’s water quality problems.

This thesis addressed the question, "How should journalists cover the environment, according to the conversation between the scholarship on environmental journalism and the handbooks on environmental journalism?" Do the handbooks, written for practicing journalists, agree with the academic scholarship on environmental journalism? The conversation between the literature and handbooks is important to examine, as the handbooks are tools journalists may use when reporting on the environment. The handbooks could influence a journalist, who influences the public, who make decisions in a democracy. As well, examining the conversation between the literature and the handbooks reveals whether or not the academy and the practice agree on how to respond to the criticisms and challenges of environmental journalism. Do they offer the same tips for improvement? First, an extensive literature review on environmental journalism revealed the criticisms, challenges, and tips to improve. Second, a qualitative document analysis examined handbooks published for journalists covering the environment to capture definitions, meanings, and similarities and differences among them. Third, the results of the literature review and the results of the document analysis were compared to examine if the handbooks respond, emulate, or differ from the literature content. Findings include five qualitative document analyses of the handbooks, and a comparative essay of the handbooks to the scholarly literature. These findings were based on the researcher's interpretive analysis. The conversation between the literature and handbooks is a healthy one. As the literature presents challenges and criticisms, the handbooks suggest solutions. Most importantly, as the literature presents tips and techniques for improvement, the handbooks agree with the ways to improve. Overall, the scholarship on environmental journalism and the handbooks on environmental journalism are "on the same page." Both support understanding audience needs, obtaining a solid understanding of a topic before reporting, addressing environmental issues thoroughly, translating the science, providing the history of a topic, addressing risk, using diverse sources, maintaining long-term coverage, disseminating objective information, and more training for journalists.

<p>The spread of influenza A subtype H5N1 has recently heightened pandemic concern and preparedness for a pandemic influenza virus has become a global priority. Research in risk communication emphasizes the importance of providing the recipients with information they need to make informed independent judgments. This entails understanding how these judgments are made, and what kind of information that serves this purpose. Decisions have been examined in a wide variety of scientific disciplines and produced several interesting methods and models to understand judgment and decisions. These methods and models were investigated and compared with regard to their fit to these conditions.</p><p>The work in this thesis was oriented toward three main questions. The first question was how to find out how people would react during an emergency. The second question was what kind of research in decision theory could explain and be used to predict these results. The third question was whether a mental model of the threat of pandemic influenza can be described, and what is its implication on risk communication.</p><p>A mental model approach to explore risk communications was used with qualitative interviews with health care workers in Östergötland, Sweden. The transcripts were analyzed according to methods drawn from mental models research and risk communication to extract influence diagrams. These influence diagrams serves as an abstract representation of the respondents’ mental model of the threat of pandemic influenza. This influence diagram was compared to a corresponding expert mental model developed from literature and interviews with influenza experts.</p><p>The mental models approach has been shown to provide a description of comprehension with several benefits. One benefit is that the method is a relatively easy way to gather notions in the target population which can be used for drafting risk information. Another benefit is that the existing notions and sense of causal patterns can be described, instead of merely memorized facts.</p><p>The comparison between the mental models of health care workers and influenza experts revealed both functional and destructive misconceptions. Unrelated information received by the respondents was also shown to be linked together in a way that is in conflict with expert knowledge. This tendency to create causal connections in order to organize knowledge may be important to consider in risk communication.</p>

<p>Datum: 2007-06-04</p><p>Nivå: Examensarbete D</p><p>Författare: Richard Caspar, Joakim Lindberg & Philip Savén</p><p>Handledare: Universitetslektor, docent Nils Kinch</p><p>Titel: KRISHANTERING! Frågan är inte om, utan när!</p><p>Problemformulering: I litteraturen finns en mängd olika uppfattningar om hur företag bäst skall hantera en kris. Vad som däremot saknas är ett gemensamt förhållningssätt till hur dessa bör hanteras. Går det att fastställa olika allmänna rekommendationer från fallstudier och litteraturen kring krishantering?</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med arbetet är att jämföra ett antal olika kriser för att se om det går att utforma en generell metod för krishantering inom företag.</p><p>Metod: Metoden som använts är en litteraturstudie där nio fallstudier har granskats för att därefter analyseras</p><p>Slutsatser: Våra slutsatser visar att företag bör försöka förstå sin omvärld, vara effektiva i sin kommunikation, planera för det värsta samt agera rakryggat och ärligt.</p>

Datum: 2007-06-04 Nivå: Examensarbete D Författare: Richard Caspar, Joakim Lindberg &amp; Philip Savén Handledare: Universitetslektor, docent Nils Kinch Titel: KRISHANTERING! Frågan är inte om, utan när! Problemformulering: I litteraturen finns en mängd olika uppfattningar om hur företag bäst skall hantera en kris. Vad som däremot saknas är ett gemensamt förhållningssätt till hur dessa bör hanteras. Går det att fastställa olika allmänna rekommendationer från fallstudier och litteraturen kring krishantering? Syfte: Syftet med arbetet är att jämföra ett antal olika kriser för att se om det går att utforma en generell metod för krishantering inom företag. Metod: Metoden som använts är en litteraturstudie där nio fallstudier har granskats för att därefter analyseras Slutsatser: Våra slutsatser visar att företag bör försöka förstå sin omvärld, vara effektiva i sin kommunikation, planera för det värsta samt agera rakryggat och ärligt.

Effective risk communication is essential in the field of health to ensure patients understand the information being presented to them by medical professionals and appreciate the level of risk involved in treatments. Cardiovascular disease, being the leading cause of death worldwide, is relevant to consider when examining risk communication in a health setting. Those afflicted with cardiovascular ailments are both high in number and exposed to information communicating risk. This research aims to identify presentation formats that are more effective communicating risk information to recovering cardiovascular patients at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. The formats’ effectiveness is measured by gauging the population’s understanding of the material and perception of the information as it relates to risk and motivation. The research draws on Max Weber’s concept of rationality and subsequent scholars who developed social judgment theory, the heuristic-systematic model, expected utility theory, protection motivation theory, and the extended parallel process model. Utilizing an experimental research design, risk information handouts and questionnaires are distributed to, and completed by, a stratified sample of cardiovascular disease patients. Effective presentation formats are examined, and the results identify comparatively effective presentation formats for minimizing and maximizing risk perception. The results also identify presentation formats’ impact on a patient’s level of motivation to avoid / indulge in behaviours that may maximize or minimize risk. The results, synthesized herein, suggest a model (communicative cardiovascular physician-patient model of message preparation-perception), which may contribute to the effectiveness of risk communication between physicians and cardiovascular disease patients.