. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Apr 1.

Published in final edited form as: Nat Hum Behav. 2021 Apr;5(4):411–413. doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01081-0

Table 1.

Risk communication challenges experienced by US federal agencies and recommendations

From: Leveraging risk communication science across US federal agencies

Prominent challenges for risk communicators in federal agencies	Recommendations
•Working around the inherent uncertainty of many scientific findings. •Contending with the circulation of misinformation and disinformation in news and social media, which require different strategies to address. •Effective strategies in some population subgroups are largely ineffective in others. For example, strategies that work well in some parts of the world may not align with customs, beliefs, and practices in other places. •Access and receptiveness to risk communications by the intended audience are greatly affected by economic status, language barriers, and educational, cultural, and social factors. •A lack of direction on implementing best practices from risk communication science, suggesting a greater need to integrate lessons learned from implementation science. •Clearance processes and political sensitivities can impede timely action. •No focal point for risk communication across agencies that could bring together risk communication practitioners and researchers working in government agencies, which can result in competing risk messages. •Not all US federal agencies have the capacity to conduct their own problem-based research, due to budgetary and other limitations.	•Clearly explain risk with stories and visuals, offer options for reducing risk, and tailor messages to fit the specific type of uncertainty and targeted population. •Develop mutual trust and acknowledge cultural differences with target communities. •Gather evidence about the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of target communities so that messaging aligns with their world view. •Construe risk communication as a dynamic and nonlinear process in which the target population is involved in multiple stages, so communication materials are effectively tailored. •Integrate community feedback and social science insights into outbreak responses to ensure a good match between recommended actions and local contexts. •Prioritize interaction and collaboration with scholars in implementation science and the science of science communication to better implement risk communication best practices. •Balance the urgency of addressing time-sensitive hazards such as pandemics and weather events when applying risk communication literature. •Agencies should foster collaboration, as it can improve sharing of evidence about the effectiveness of risk communication strategies in various contexts; reduce redundant, competing, and contradictory risk messages; and leverage staff and budget resources to better implement risk communication science.

Prominent challenges for risk communicators in federal agencies

Recommendations

•Working around the inherent uncertainty of many scientific findings.
•Contending with the circulation of misinformation and disinformation in news and social media, which require different strategies to address.
•Effective strategies in some population subgroups are largely ineffective in others. For example, strategies that work well in some parts of the world may not align with customs, beliefs, and practices in other places.
•Access and receptiveness to risk communications by the intended audience are greatly affected by economic status, language barriers, and educational, cultural, and social factors.
•A lack of direction on implementing best practices from risk communication science, suggesting a greater need to integrate lessons learned from implementation science.
•Clearance processes and political sensitivities can impede timely action.
•No focal point for risk communication across agencies that could bring together risk communication practitioners and researchers working in government agencies, which can result in competing risk messages.
•Not all US federal agencies have the capacity to conduct their own problem-based research, due to budgetary and other limitations.

•Clearly explain risk with stories and visuals, offer options for reducing risk, and tailor messages to fit the specific type of uncertainty and targeted population.
•Develop mutual trust and acknowledge cultural differences with target communities.
•Gather evidence about the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of target communities so that messaging aligns with their world view.
•Construe risk communication as a dynamic and nonlinear process in which the target population is involved in multiple stages, so communication materials are effectively tailored.
•Integrate community feedback and social science insights into outbreak responses to ensure a good match between recommended actions and local contexts.
•Prioritize interaction and collaboration with scholars in implementation science and the science of science communication to better implement risk communication best practices.
•Balance the urgency of addressing time-sensitive hazards such as pandemics and weather events when applying risk communication literature.
•Agencies should foster collaboration, as it can improve sharing of evidence about the effectiveness of risk communication strategies in various contexts; reduce redundant, competing, and contradictory risk messages; and leverage staff and budget resources to better implement risk communication science.