Lakey J
Health Phys. 1998 Oct;75(4):367-74. doi: 10.1097/00004032-199810000-00002.
I am greatly honored to be invited by the Presidents Emeritus Committee of the Health Physics Society as a G. William Morgan Lecturer for 1997. The topic of this Plenary Session on Public Information and Public Relations is very close to my heart; it was a theme for my term as President of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA). I met IRPA members from all of the societies affiliated to IRPA and found that they shared a common concern about the need to improve public information especially in the event of a nuclear emergency. But who should tell them and what should be the message? There is considerable agreement about the desired characteristics of the messenger in risk communication. These include credibility, openness, and the sharing of uncertainty. The profession must maintain the status and credibility of the members, it must train members in communication skills, and above all win the cooperation of other professions. There are many obstacles to radiation protection communication, and, in particular, the complex language, derived from research, should be reserved for colleagues, and our message to the public must be clarified and freed from unnecessary jargon. Communication would be more efficient and possibly cause less anxiety if people were better educated about ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. There is considerable disagreement within the profession about the content of our message to the public. Consistency in the message would be helpful although it would be wrong to expect total unanimity in research. The profession should seek the support of the international agencies and commissions to use plain and consistent language wherever possible. I will discuss the desired characteristics of the messenger, the nature of the message, and examine some of the obstacles in the path of communication using evidence from experience with IRPA and the European Union. In this paper I will suggest some action to improve radiological protection communication and will conclude with a discussion of the central role of education. Our objective is to ensure that everyone recognizes that radiation protection opens the door to the benefits of the applications of radiation in medicine and industry.
我非常荣幸地受到健康物理学会名誉主席委员会的邀请，担任1997年G.威廉·摩根演讲者。本次关于公众信息与公共关系的全会主题与我息息相关；这是我担任国际辐射防护协会（IRPA）主席期间的一个主题。我会见了IRPA下属所有学会的成员，发现他们都共同关注改善公众信息的必要性，特别是在核紧急情况下。但应该由谁来告诉他们，传达的信息又应该是什么呢？在风险沟通中，对于信息传递者的理想特质存在相当多的共识。这些特质包括可信度、开放性以及不确定性的共享。该行业必须维护成员的地位和可信度，必须对成员进行沟通技巧培训，最重要的是要赢得其他行业的合作。辐射防护沟通存在许多障碍，尤其是源自研究的复杂语言，应该留给同行，而我们向公众传达的信息必须加以澄清，去除不必要的行话。如果人们对电离辐射和非电离辐射有更好的了解，沟通将会更高效，可能也会减少焦虑。在该行业内部，对于我们向公众传达的信息内容存在相当大的分歧。尽管期望研究完全一致是错误的，但信息的一致性会有所帮助。该行业应该寻求国际机构和委员会的支持，尽可能使用通俗易懂且一致的语言。我将讨论信息传递者的理想特质、信息的性质，并利用IRPA和欧盟的经验证据来审视沟通道路上的一些障碍。在本文中，我将提出一些改善放射防护沟通的行动建议，并以对教育核心作用的讨论作为结尾。我们的目标是确保每个人都认识到辐射防护为辐射在医学和工业应用中的益处打开了大门。
