Risk Communication Research Paper

The following annotated chapter outline will help you review the major topics covered in this chapter.

You should read this study guide carefully and also ensure that all the links have been followed to other accompanying documents that include, for example, information on coursework submission. Information in this study guide is maintained by Dr. Maged Ali (maged.ali@brunel.ac.uk), Office EG306.

Chapelhow et al. (2005) have created a framework to enable a person-centred approach to be taken in all care situations. It outlines six key areas which are fundamental to excellent care delivery. These are: communication, assessment, managing risk, documentation, professional decision making and managing uncertainty.

The objective of this case is to understand the importance of crisis management. This case is intended to make the reader consider not only financial implications at the time of the event but the effects on the long term strategies of the organization. Also, the case urges participants to think about the consequences not only on the customer but on those within the organization as well.

REQUIRED READING: Students are required to read all materials available at the rEsource site for this course on http://mycampus.uophx.edu.

The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to apply some of the critical reading strategies you have evaluated.

“Social media makes the community part of the actual crisis communication response. For example…Twitter was used to quickly share initial information and updates during the 2007 and 2008 California wildfires, 2008 Mumbai massacre, 2009 crash of US Airways Flight 1549, 2010 Haiti earthquake, and 2011 Tunisian uprising.” This information, again in Veil’s 2011 article, reinforces the idea of how social media communication is highly beneficial and furthers an individual’s ability to remain informed on current events.

Do you want to have fun this summer without being in danger? You're going to learn 6 summer hazards and how to avoid them! There are a lot of hazards in summer, like Rip currents, swimming with germs, and shark attacks! A few more are heat strokes, zika viruses, and tick bites. All these hazards are scary, but there are easy ways to overcome them.

Each flowchart step is placed in the “Lane” for the group responsible for completing the task (Marketing, Sales, HR, etc.).

It is very important to know your audiences specific needs during this type of tragedy. Things to be considered when communicating to the various audiences are the type of media, demographic of the audience, and the level of frequency. This situation depended on a spokesperson that is able to identify needs with the different types of people in the audience and watching around the world. Knowing your audience is, important in any type of public speaking; however, it is critical during a crisis because the audience is depending on the spokesperson to inform them in a way they can understand. The spokesperson is charged with the task of delivering the facts on a need to know basis while still keeping the general public informed with broad generalized statements. Knowing your audience not only helps the spokesperson determine which information to release to whom, but also ensures that priority is given to those living the crisis.

Media partnership is another critical assumption that is used in an emergency situation. The media takes the responsibility of giving information to the public, as well as receiving information from them too. Thus, any emergency response team must work together with the media to give information that is particularly accurate and timely to avert situations that aggravate tension. Emergency managers must have an understanding of the needs and requirements of the media and the value that they come with in emergency response situations (Haddow & Haddow, 2013).

There has to be a way or process by which officials communicate with the people about present, emerging and evolving risks that could impact their lives. This process is described by the term “Risk Communication”. Risk Communication is a process that flows both ways between the communicator and the recipients of the included message. Dr. Vincent T. Covello (1992) who is the founder and Director of the Center for Risk Communication defined Risk Communication as “The process of exchanging information among interested parties about the nature, magnitude, significance or control of a risk” (Covello, 1992).

According to Business and Society (7th edition) written by Buchholtz and Carroll, crisis has four stages, which are the prodromal crisis stage, the acute crisis stage, the chronic crisis stage, and the crisis resolution stage. It can be in any of one of these stages. Briefly explaining the few stages:

The National Research Council (NRC) (NRC, 1989) defines risk communication as an interactive process of exchange of information and opinion among individuals, groups, and institutions. The primary role of risk communication is to provide information to the public to induce appropriate levels of concern and actions (Covello, McCallum, & Pavlova, 1987). The American National Academy of Science (NAS, 2010), further develop that it involves multiple messages about the nature of risk and other messages, not strictly about risk, that express concerns, opinions, or reactions to risk messages or to legal and institutional arrangements for risk management. As the definition of risk is broad, this paper refers to the risk of foodborne illness outbreaks specifically applied in hotels. Within the hospitality industry, the exposure of operators to food safety incidents has increased their need to create effective risk communication strategies to prevent from financial loss and to maintain their brand image. In this paper we will address the increasing importance of risk communication in the daily responsibilities of hotel managers and define a risk communication strategy and the steps to follow in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak.

Communication can be conveyed in a plethora of different ways, whether it is a debatable topic between individuals a group of individuals, a problem or issue discussed in a relationship, or every day conversation between friends. Regardless of the situation, the information must be communicated, and perceived, accurately in order for the discussion to yield the intended result. According to “What is Communication?” (2013), “the discipline of communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media” (para 1). Information can be transferred by using numerous different communication methods such as verbal communication, written