Centre for Resilience in Healthcare, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Kjell Arholmsgate 43, 4021, Stavanger, Norway.
School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jul 29;22(1):1440. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13853-y.
A worldwide pandemic of a new and unknown virus is characterised by scientific uncertainty. However, despite this uncertainty, health authorities must still communicate complex health risk information to the public. The mental models approach to risk communication describes how people perceive and make decisions about complex risks, with the aim of identifying decision-relevant information that can be incorporated into risk communication interventions. This study explored how people use mental models to make sense of scientific information and apply it to their lives and behaviour in the context of COVID-19.
This qualitative study enrolled 15 male and female participants of different ages, with different levels of education and occupational backgrounds and from different geographical regions of Norway. The participants were interviewed individually, and the interview data were subjected to thematic analysis. The interview data were compared to a expert model of COVID-19 health risk communication based on online information from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Materials in the interview data not represented by expert model codes were coded inductively. The participants' perceptions of and behaviours related to health risk information were analysed across three themes: virus transmission, risk mitigation and consequences of COVID-19.
The results indicate that people placed different meanings on the medical and scientific words used by experts to explain the pandemic (e.g., virus transmission and the reproduction number). While some people wanted to understand why certain behaviour and activities were considered high risk, others preferred simple, clear messages explaining what to do and how to protect themselves. Similarly, information about health consequences produced panic in some interviewees and awareness in others.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to public health risk communication. Empowering people with decision-relevant information necessitates targeted and balanced risk communication.
一种新的、未知的病毒在全球范围内引发的大流行，其特点是存在科学不确定性。然而，尽管存在这种不确定性，卫生当局仍必须向公众传达复杂的健康风险信息。风险沟通的心理模型方法描述了人们如何感知和对复杂风险做出决策，目的是确定可纳入风险沟通干预措施的相关决策信息。本研究探讨了人们如何使用心理模型来理解科学信息，并将其应用于 COVID-19 背景下的生活和行为。
本定性研究纳入了来自挪威不同地理区域、不同年龄、教育程度和职业背景的 15 名男性和女性参与者。参与者接受了单独的访谈，访谈数据进行了主题分析。将访谈数据与基于挪威公共卫生研究所在线信息的 COVID-19 健康风险沟通专家模型进行了比较。在访谈数据中，用专家模型代码未表示的材料进行了归纳编码。分析了参与者对健康风险信息的看法和相关行为，主题包括病毒传播、风险缓解和 COVID-19 的后果。
结果表明，人们对专家用来解释大流行的医学和科学术语（例如病毒传播和繁殖数）赋予了不同的含义。虽然有些人想了解为什么某些行为和活动被认为是高风险的，但其他人更喜欢简单明了的信息，解释要做什么以及如何保护自己。同样，有关健康后果的信息在一些受访者中引起了恐慌，而在另一些受访者中则引起了警觉。
公共卫生风险沟通没有一刀切的方法。为人们提供相关决策信息需要有针对性和平衡的风险沟通。
