Gesser-Edelsburg Anat, Shir-Raz Yaffa, Hayek Samah, Sassoni-Bar Lev Oshrat
Health Promotion Department, School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Health Promotion Department, School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Am J Infect Control. 2015 Jul 1;43(7):669-75. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2015.03.005. Epub 2015 Apr 24.
The unexpected developments surrounding the Ebola virus in the United States provide yet another warning that we need to establish communication preparedness. This study examines what the Israeli public knew about Ebola after the initial stages of the outbreak in a country to which Ebola has not spread and assesses the association between knowledge versus worries and concerns about contracting Ebola.
Online survey using Google Docs (Google, Mountain View, CA) of Israeli health care professionals and the general public (N = 327).
The Israeli public has knowledge about Ebola (mean ± SD, 4.18 ± 0.83), despite the fact that the disease has not spread to Israel. No statistically significant difference was found between health care workers versus non-health care workers in the knowledge score. Additionally, no statistically significant association was found between knowledge and worry levels. The survey indicated that Israelis expect information about Ebola from the health ministry, including topics of uncertainty. More than half of the participants thought the information provided by the health ministry on Ebola and Ebola prevention was insufficient (50.5% and 56.4%, respectively), and almost half (45.2% and 41.1%, respectively) were unsure if the information was sufficient.
The greatest challenges that the organizations face is not only to convey knowledge, but also to find ways to convey comprehensive information that reflects uncertainty and empowers the public to make fact-based decisions about health.
美国围绕埃博拉病毒出现的意外情况再次敲响警钟，即我们需要做好沟通准备。本研究调查了在埃博拉尚未传播至的一个国家爆发初期后，以色列公众对埃博拉的了解情况，并评估了关于感染埃博拉的知识与担忧之间的关联。
使用谷歌文档（谷歌公司，加利福尼亚州山景城）对以色列医疗保健专业人员和普通公众进行在线调查（N = 327）。
尽管埃博拉病毒尚未传播至以色列，但以色列公众对其有所了解（均值±标准差，4.18 ± 0.83）。在知识得分方面，医护人员与非医护人员之间未发现统计学上的显著差异。此外，知识水平与担忧程度之间未发现统计学上的显著关联。调查表明，以色列人期望从卫生部获取有关埃博拉的信息，包括不确定性话题。超过一半的参与者认为卫生部提供的关于埃博拉及埃博拉预防的信息不足（分别为50.5%和56.4%），近一半的参与者（分别为45.2%和41.1%）不确定信息是否充足。
各组织面临的最大挑战不仅在于传播知识，还在于找到传达全面信息的方法，这些信息要反映不确定性并使公众能够基于事实做出有关健康的决策。
