Departments of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (Mss Van Deventer, Marecaux, and Doubleday and Drs Errett and Isaksen) and Health Services (Drs Errett and Isaksen), University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
J Public Health Manag Pract. 2021;27(6):607-614. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001151.
Wildfire events are increasing in prevalence and intensity in the Pacific Northwest. Effective communication of health risks and actions to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke is imperative.
We assessed the content of wildfire smoke risk messages from government organizations and mainstream media during a major wildfire smoke event in August 2018.
We conducted a content analysis of wildfire smoke risk information communicated by local and state government organizations and the mainstream media.
Eight Washington State counties during a statewide wildfire smoke event in August 2018.
Leveraging the Extended Parallel Process Model and information in the existing literature on wildfire smoke and health, we assessed messages for the presence of information regarding health risk, personal interventions, administrative interventions, vulnerable populations, and trusted sources of information. Summary statistics were calculated to identify common messages about recommended interventions, vulnerable populations cited, and trusted sources of public health information.
Of the 273 identified government and media messages on wildfire smoke, the majority (71% and 66%) contained information about health risks. However, only 46% and 33% of government and media messages contained information about personal interventions to reduce risk, and 37% and 14% of government and media messages contained information about administrative interventions to reduce risk. Less than half of government and media messages (28% and 31%) contained information specific to vulnerable populations, and 58% and 46% of government and media messages contained any reference to a trusted source of information.
While information about wildfire smoke and health risks was communicated during Washington's August 2018 wildfire smoke event, there remains considerable opportunity to include additional information about interventions, vulnerable populations, and trusted sources of information. We recommend several opportunities to improve and evaluate risk communication and risk reduction before, during, and after future wildfire smoke events.
野火事件在北美太平洋西北地区的发生率和强度都在增加。有效传达健康风险信息以及减少接触野火烟雾的措施至关重要。
我们评估了在 2018 年 8 月一场重大野火烟雾事件期间，政府组织和主流媒体发布的野火烟雾风险信息的内容。
我们对地方和州政府组织以及主流媒体发布的野火烟雾风险信息进行了内容分析。
2018 年 8 月，美国华盛顿州的 8 个县发生了一场全州范围的野火烟雾事件。
利用扩展平行处理模型以及现有的野火烟雾与健康相关文献中的信息，我们评估了这些信息是否包含有关健康风险、个人干预措施、行政干预措施、弱势群体和可信信息来源的内容。计算了描述性统计数据，以确定关于推荐干预措施的常见信息、引用的弱势群体以及公共卫生信息的可信来源。
在确定的 273 条关于野火烟雾的政府和媒体信息中，大多数（71%和 66%）包含有关健康风险的信息。然而，只有 46%和 33%的政府和媒体信息包含有关个人干预措施以降低风险的信息，只有 37%和 14%的政府和媒体信息包含有关行政干预措施以降低风险的信息。不到一半的政府和媒体信息（28%和 31%）包含针对弱势群体的具体信息，只有 58%和 46%的政府和媒体信息包含任何关于可信信息来源的信息。
尽管在华盛顿 2018 年 8 月的野火烟雾事件中传达了有关野火烟雾和健康风险的信息，但在干预措施、弱势群体和可信信息来源方面仍有很大的改进空间。我们建议在未来的野火烟雾事件之前、期间和之后，采取几种机会来改进和评估风险沟通和风险降低措施。
