Deck 12: Public Health and Crisis Communication

Question 1

Which model, developed by the CDC, outlines five crisis phases and accompanying communication goals?

A) The IDEA model
B) The health belief model
C) The CERC model
D) The risk management/communication framework

Answer 1

C
Explanation: Developed by the CDC, the crisis and emergency risk model (CERC) outlines five crisis phases and accompanying communication goals. In the pre-crisis phase, partnerships with agencies, organizations, first responders, and the media are formed. During the initial event, aims include informing and reassuring the public, reducing uncertainty, and promoting self-efficacy. The maintenance phase involves helping the public more accurately understand the risk and what is being done. During the resolution phase, ongoing recovery efforts are shared. The evaluation phase includes evaluating response and communication effectiveness and identifying specific actions for improving.

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a component of the IDEA model?

A) Internalization
B) Explanation
C) Education
D) Distribution

Answer 2

C
Explanation: The IDEA model has four main components. Internalization refers to the process whereby people process risk messages based on personal relevance, proximity to the risk, potential impact, and timeliness (e.g., the time available to make preparations or respond to a crisis). Distribution refers to channels for sharing information, such as television, radio, newspapers, the internet, and social media. Explanation reflects the quality of a message, its accuracy, the credibility of its source, and how easily it is understood by the public. Action involves the specific steps people might take in an emergency.

Question 3

How Zika was handled in the United States offers some important lessons for risk and crisis communicators. Which of the lessons below are among those learned during the Zika crisis?

A) Maintain a consistent social media presence in the early phases of a public health crises.
B) Health agencies cannot rely on news media alone to distribute accurate and complete crisis messages to the public.
C) Health crises rarely persist after the news media have stopped reporting on them.
D) All of the above

Answer 3

B
Explanation: The Zika crisis taught us three important lessons. First, health crises often persist after the news media have stopped reporting on them which means public health agencies are challenged with finding ways to keep the public informed about ongoing risks. Second, news media often fail to report health crises in accordance with guidelines and best practices. As such, health agencies cannot rely on news media alone to distribute accurate and complete crisis messages to the public. Social media, if used consistently, can help fill gaps in media coverage. Third, health agencies should maintain a consistent social media presence throughout public health crises.

Question 4

Public health officials in your area have recruited a wide range of professionals and community members to create awareness about the dangers of standing water in which mosquitoes can breed and spread disease. Their efforts are best described as:

A) Exacerbating a crisis
B) Environmental repudiation
C) Social mobilization
D) Both B and C

Question 5

The management of the 2014 Ebola crisis in western Africa improved when:

A) Community chiefs, religious leaders, and healers became involved in reassuring citizens.
B) Officials allowed family members to participate in after-death care of their loved ones to the extent that it was safe to do so.
C) Officials increased dissemination of bulletins outlining the scientific reasons for removing ill individuals and corpses.
D) A and B

Question 6

Which are elements of risk communication?

A) Disseminating information about the risk
B) Analyzing public sentiment about the message
C) Identifying when and how to alert the public
D) Ty All of the above

Question 7

Which of the following lessons for public health and crisis communication relates to the importance of maintaining the public's trust?

A) Consider stakeholders' beliefs, needs, and expectations.
B) Present current information supported by evidence.
C) Avoid downplaying legitimate risks and dangers.
D) All of the above

Question 8

Communicating honestly and consistently in cases of public health and crisis communication involves providing the public with answers to three key questions. Which of the following is NOT one of those questions?

A) When will the crisis end?
B) Where can I find trustworthy information?
C) What do I need to know?
D) What should I do and not do?

Question 9

The purpose of a containment zone as proposed in guidelines for a flu pandemic is to:

A) Limit the spread of the virus and thus save lives.
B) Keep news of the outbreak from leaking to the larger public.
C) Prevent looting and violence in identified neighborhoods.
D) All of the above

Question 10

According to the risk management/communication framework advanced by Ratzan and Meltzer, it is important to:

A) Limit the number of stakeholder groups you involve in a crisis.
B) Suspend staff meetings so you can focus on meeting public needs instead.
C) Keep in mind that there isn't always time to create and pretest messages during a crisis.
D) Avoid showing emotion in statements to the media.

Question 11

The term anti-vaxxers refers to:

A) scientists who published a study in 1998 and continue to warn the public about the danger of vaccines.
B) people who point out that the 1998 study was based on faulty information and has been retracted.
C) people who propose that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risk factors.
D) people who are fearful that their children will be harmed by vaccinations.

Question 12

According to the book, when information and viewpoints about a public health crisis are inconsistent, it is important to:

A) Acknowledge and explain the inconsistences.
B) Silence sources that are likely to provide inconsistent information.
C) Focus on specific examples rather than on scientific information.
D) Limit information to what has been published in scientific journals.

Question 13

Which of the following statements best reflects Winslow's (1923) definition of public health?

A) Prevent disease, prolong life, and promote physical health through organized community efforts
B) Coordinate the one-way communication of health information to the public from medical experts
C) Focus public health communication efforts primarily on encounters between patients and care providers
D) Educate the public about the importance of vaccinations to prevent community infections

Question 14

Success in social mobilization efforts is facilitated by which of the following?

A) Designing creative slogans to capture the public's attention.
B) Implementing small-scale efforts involving one-way communication.
C) Utilizing diverse and separate teams, each with their own specific goal.
D) Promoting active participation by community opinion leaders.

Question 15

Imagine an HIV-prevention campaign created in North America for citizens of Namibia, Africa, urging them: "Be faithful to your spouse to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases." The problem with such a message is that:

A) The campaign is largely wasted because citizens of Namibia already have the lowest incidence of HIV and AIDS on the planet.
B) It makes it sound as if HIV is transmitted through contact between people involved in long-term relationships, which is rarely the case.
C) It presupposes that the citizens of Namibia define marriage and fidelity in the same way that the campaign creators do.
D) All of the above

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the response of public health experts to the SARS outbreak of 2003?

A) Because of administrative oversights, the disease was allowed to spread for months before officials realized it.
B) Because of remarkable teamwork and communication, experts were able to contain the disease in time to save countless lives.
C) Quarantines proved to be ineffective.
D) Both A and C

Question 17

Risk-management professionals involved in the mad cow disease scenario erred in what way(s)?

A) By over-relying on celebrity spokespersons.
B) By underestimating the public's tendency to panic when confronted with frightening news.
C) By sharing too much information, too soon
D) By downplaying the risk to the public.

Question 18

Gaya Damhewage of the World Health Organization Department of Communication compares public health communication to a four-legged stool. Which of the following is NOT represented by a leg of the stool?

A) Celebrity advocates who can effectively reassure the public.
B) Mass media and social media professionals.
C) Scientists who provide data and technical guidance.
D) Professionals in health policy and resource management.

Question 19

Which of the following best describes Typhoid Mary?

A) She worked tirelessly in the slums of New York to help people with typhoid fever.
B) She discovered that typhoid fever was most prevalent in areas of New York with unsanitary conditions in terms of garbage and sewage.
C) She vigorously campaigned to have people with contagious diseases quarantined or imprisoned.
D) She was a cook for wealthy families in New York.

Question 20

According to the book, which public health crisis reminds us that we should not overlook "forgotten publics" and that the language we use to describe health matters?

A) Zika
B) The opioid epidemic
C) SARS
D) Avian flu

Question 21

The purpose of public health crisis communication is usually to scare the public so much that they avoid all threats.

Question 22

Risk communication is an approach used by scientists and public health professionals to provide information that allows individuals, stakeholders, or an entire community to make the best possible decisions about their well-being, under nearly impossible time constraints, while accepting the imperfect nature of their choices.

Question 23

Messages crafted using the IDEA model are often more effective at promoting understanding than the types of messages that typically appear in the news media.

Question 24

The world is at less risk for pandemics now than it was 30 years ago.

Question 25

When confronted with frightening information, it is common for people to panic.

Question 26

One combination of drugs (marketed as PrEP) can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 99% in some instances, but it is not widely used.

Question 27

Many people, including some health professionals, think addiction reflects a person's poor character,

Question 28

The CDC's IDEA model considers which messages are most needed at particular stages of a crisis.

Question 29

The 2014 crisis on the Ebola epidemic was made worse by poor communication.

Question 30

Public health experts are advised to use fear appeals with sensitivity.

Question 31

The World Health Organization's Guidelines on Communicating Risk outlines five recommendations for communicating with the public during a crisis. List and describe three of the recommendations.

Question 32

Describe two of the lessons learned about risk communication at Ground Zero.

Question 33

According to the book, scholars have identified six valuable social media lessons when it comes to crisis communication. List and describe four of those lessons.