Page 70 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

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Principles of Risk Communication

Vincent T. Covello

Introduction

Effective risk communication establishes confidence in the ability of indi-
viduals and organizations to deal with threats to that which we value. It is
integral to the larger process of information exchange aimed at eliciting
trust and promoting understanding.
The National Academy of Sciences has defined risk communication as

… an interactive process of exchange of information and opinion among indi-
viduals, groups, and institutions. It involves multiple messages about the nature
of risk and other messages, not strictly about risk, that express concerns, opin-
ions, or reactions to risk messages or to legal and institutional arrangements for
risk management.

Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of risk communi-
cation in enabling people to make informed choices and participate in
deciding how risks should be managed. Effective risk communication pro-
vides people with timely, accurate, and credible risk information. It is the
starting point for creating a population that is

• Involved, interested, reasonable, thoughtful, solution-oriented, coop-
erative, and collaborative
• Appropriately concerned about the risk
• More likely to engage in appropriate risk-related behaviors

While an overarching objective of effective risk communication is to
build, strengthen, or repair trust, its specific objectives vary from situ-
ation to situation. In some situations, the objective is to raise awareness

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