How to learn from our mistakes: Communication of health crises

Authors

  • Javier Granda Revilla Asociación Nacional de Informadores de Salud - ANIS (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.7509

Keywords:

health crises, communication of risk, mad cow disease, influenza A, Ebola

Abstract

Reviewing public communications emitted during health crises in the last thirty years is useful for verifying that there are a number of repeated mistakes: for example, untrained spokespeople with poor communication skills, ambiguous messages, lack of communication plans for the crisis, and improvisation, which ends up with the transmission of alarming messages to the population and contributes to administrations being considered suspicious or untrustworthy by the people. The denatured rapeseed oil scandal, mad cow disease, influenza A virus, or the recent Ebola outbreak are clear examples of how not to communicate and offer us an opportunity to learn valuable lessons before future crises arise. 

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Author Biography

Javier Granda Revilla, Asociación Nacional de Informadores de Salud - ANIS (Spain).

Freelance journalist specialising in health. He is the Vice-President of the National Association of Health Journalists (ANIS), Spain, which awarded him the prize for best communication work in 2014. He is also a member of the Spanish Association of Scientific Communication (AECC) and the Association of Biotechnology Communicators (ACB). He is Professor in Scientific Communication for the Master’s Degree at the Pharmaceutical Industry Scientific Departments (ESAME Foundation – University of Barcelona). He currently collaborates with the science supplement «BigVang» at La Vanguardia , the health supplements of the El País , La Razón , and Diario Médico , and the journal El Médico .  

References

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Published

2016-04-15

How to Cite

Granda Revilla, J. (2016). How to learn from our mistakes: Communication of health crises. Metode Science Studies Journal, (6), 215–219. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.7509
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Issue

Science grid: The public understanding of science (2016)

Section

Communicating health. Medical outreach efforts in the media

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