Recommendations on How to Manage Anticipated Communication Dilemmas Involving Medical Countermeasures in an Emergency.

Recommendations on How to Manage Anticipated Communication Dilemmas Involving Medical Countermeasures in an Emergency. Public Health Rep. 2018 Jan 01;:33354918773069 Authors: Schoch-Spana M, Brunson E, Chandler H, Gronvall GK, Ravi S, Sell TK, Shearer MP Abstract National investments to facilitate prompt access to safe and effective medical countermeasures (MCMs) (ie, products used to diagnose, prevent, protect from, or treat conditions associated with chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats, or emerging infectious diseases) have little merit if people are not willing to take a recommended MCM during an emergency or inadvertently misuse or miss out on a recommended MCM during an emergency. Informed by the Expert Working Group on MCM Emergency Communication, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security developed recommendations for achieving desired public health outcomes through improved MCM communication based on a review of model practices in risk communication, crisis communication, and public warnings; detailed analysis of recent health crises involving MCMs; and development of a scenario depicting future MCM communication dilemmas. The public's topics of concern, emotional requirements, capacity for processing information, and health needs will evolve as an emergency unfolds, from a pre-event period of routine conditions, to a crisis state, to a post-event period of reflection. Thus, MCM communication by public he...
Source: Public Health Reports - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Public Health Rep Source Type: research