Principles and Practices of Effective Food Safety Risk Communication – Introducing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food Safety Risk Communication Framework

This paper describes the principles and practices of effective food safety risk communication developed under the “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food Safety Risk Communication Framework and Associated Guidelines”. The framework recommends that effective food safety risk communication needs to be centered on the clear goal of protecting consumer health by ensuring transparency and timeliness, and communication on food safety matters should be conducted in a two-way process. It emphasizes the need to provide the public with credible information based on science and evidence and highlights that food safety is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders, including industry, government agencies, media organizations and consumers. It further highlights that food safety risk communication needs to be conducted in a consistent, systematic, inclusive, consultative, and preventative manner. The framework also indicates that effective food safety risk communication needs to pay attention to the backgrounds, experiences, and needs of concerned audiences. It stresses the importance of continuous improvement of the communication system to ensure food safety risk communication to be effective. Focusing on effective communications in response to food safety incidents, emergency or crisis situations, as well as everyday food safety communications, these principles and practical guidelines will help food safety regulators, food industry, food safety educators and other stakeholders improve their communications with target audiences.

The post-pandemic museum in the Philippine context

@#In response to the global crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippine government declared a countrywide State of Calamity, apart from imposing quarantines of different stringency across regions. As workplaces have been mandated to implement alternative arrangements, these major changes in turn have caused disruptions in, and called for adjustments to, business operations, with museums being among the affected. As museums are venues that store physical collections that call for physical presence and even the tactile involvement of audiences and visitors, their operations will have to be inevitably transformed post-pandemic, as are their visitors, whose mental health are likely to have been affected by the pandemic and resulting quarantine. Using the lens of crisis management, this paper analyzed the museums’ response to the changes brought about by the spread of disease and the resulting imposition of quarantine. Through a review of the responses of several Manila-based museums to the crisis, the paper assessed the readiness of the museums in creating appropriate and effective measures to manage decreased foot traffic and economic impact, among others. The paper asserts that various tactics were used as reactions, instead of proactive steps, to mitigate the effects of the pandemic to museums. The analyses are juxtaposed with degrowth initiatives, which may potentially address the economic issues arising from the pandemic. These initiatives may be of help in resolving the issue of collections management and curatorship, with a focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of the museum’s collection and profits. Through postmodern and new museology theory, shifts from physical to virtual and other alternative modes of art experience are discussed as possible and effective solutions to this crisis. Overall, the paper aims to propose a revised model of operation that may be useful to museology in particular, and mental and planetary health in general.

The post-pandemic museum in the Philippine context

@#In response to the global crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippine government declared a countrywide State of Calamity, apart from imposing quarantines of different stringency across regions. As workplaces have been mandated to implement alternative arrangements, these major changes in turn have caused disruptions in, and called for adjustments to, business operations, with museums being among the affected. As museums are venues that store physical collections that call for physical presence and even the tactile involvement of audiences and visitors, their operations will have to be inevitably transformed postpandemic, as are their visitors, whose mental health is likely to have been affected by the pandemic and resulting quarantine. Using the lens of crisis management, this paper analyzed the museum sector's response to the changes brought about by the spread of disease and the resulting imposition of quarantine. Through a review of the responses of several Manila-based museums to the crisis, the paper assessed the readiness of the museums in creating appropriate and effective measures to manage decreased foot traffic and economic impact, among others. The paper asserts that various tactics were used as reactions, instead of proactive steps, to mitigate the effects of the pandemic to museums. The analyses are juxtaposed with degrowth initiatives, which may potentially address the economic issues arising from the pandemic. These initiatives may be of help in resolving the issue of collections management and curatorship, with a focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of the museum's collection and profits. Through postmodern and new museology theory, shifts from physical to virtual and other alternative modes of art experience are discussed as possible and effective solutions to this crisis. Overall, the paper aims to propose a revised model of operation that may be useful to museology in particular, and mental and planetary health in general.

Strategic risk communication for infectious disease outbreaks: the evolving landscape of publics and media

During the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome, the Korean government responded with inadequate speed and thoroughness. As a result, serious damage occurred not only to public health, but also to socioeconomic life and public trust in the government. Although people are becoming increasingly aware that risk and crisis communications are important during infectious disease outbreaks, we still need a better understanding of what constitutes strategic risk communication. This article deals with the following issues: (1) what is risk communication? (2) During the development of risk communication strategies, how has the concept of the public been treated? (3) As the media landscape has changed, how have views of the role of the public in risk communication changed? This article traces how risk communication has moved from an expert-centered view to an audience-centered view. In the process, the concept of the public has changed from being the target of expert control to being the partner in a respectful dialogue. Strategic risk communicators need to understand how the role of the public has changed in today's diversified and fragmented media environment, where people not only consume but produce, share, and disseminate risk information. Finally, to make risk communication more effective during infectious disease outbreaks, public health experts and communication experts need to use “team science” to improve their abilities to work closely with one another as soon as outbreaks occur.

Comunicação de risco versus comunicação de crise na saúde pública: o discurso das autoridades diante de uma epidemia de dengue / Risk communication versus crisis communication in the public health: the authorities speech in the face of a dengue epidemic / Comunicación de riesgo versus comunicación de crisis en la salud pública: el discurso de las autoridades ante una epidemia de dengue

Este artigo busca analisar os discursos, veiculados pela imprensa, das autoridades sanitárias e políticas sobre a primeira epidemia de dengue em Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brasil, em 1990, com o propósito de verificar a predominância ou não do uso da comunicação de crise. Foi feita uma pesquisa qualitativa embasada na teoria das representações sociais. e foram resgatadas 126 notícias de jornais e revistas sobre a epidemia em questão utilizando o método intitulado discurso do sujeito coletivo. A mídia desviou a atenção dos leitores para os embates políticos, e não para questões relativas ao binômio epidemiologia/saúde. Mesmo que o conteúdo informacional culpasse tanto o governo quanto a população, os leitores assumiram uma postura de passividade diante da situação. A grande mídia tem o poder de influenciar o cotidiano das pessoas e suas atuações políticas. Ela se apresenta como espaço de poder, com força na disputa pela hegemonia e na constituição da opinião pública sobre questões de saúde.

The objective of this article is to analyze the discourses by the public health and political authorities published by the print media on the first dengue epidemic in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo/Brazil in 1990, in order toverify whether or not there is a prevalence of the use of the crisis communication. A qualitative research was developed based on the social representation theory and 126 news about that epidemic were extracted from newspapers and journals using the method in titled collective subject discourse. The media diverted the attention of readers from matters relating to the binomial epidemiology/health to the existing political conflicts. Thus, even the media bringing an informational content that blamed both the government and the population, the readers assumed a passive attitude in the face of that situation. The great media has power to influence the daily life of people and their political actions. The media presents itself as a power sphere, with strength in the struggle for the hegemony and in the formation of the opinion about the health problems.

Este artículo busca analizar los discursos de las autoridades de salud pública y políticas que la prensa transmitió en la primera epidemia de dengue en Ribeirão Preto/São Paulo/Brasil en 1990, con el fin deverificar se ha prevalecido o no el empleo de la comunicación de crisis. Hemos realizado uno estudio cualitativo basado en la teoría de las representaciones sociales y 126 noticias fueron extraídas de la prensa diaria y de otros periodicos utilizando el método del discurso del sujeto colectivo. Los medios de comunicación desvíaron la atención de los lectores para los conflictos políticos existentes, y no para los asuntos relacionados con el binomio epidemiología/salud. Aunque el contenido informativo culpase tanto el gobierno como la población, los lectores asumieron una postura pasiva en relación a aquella situación. Los grandes medios de comunicación tienen poder para influir en el día a día de las personas y en susacciones políticas. Ellos se presentan como un espacio de poder, con fuerza en la lucha por la hegemonía yen la formación de la opinión pública sobre cuestiones de salud.

Quasi-Experiment Study on Effectiveness Evaluation of Health Communication Strategies

This experimental study examined differences in doctor-patient relationships according to the health communication strategies during cases of medical malpractices occurred at primary medical institution. A total of 116 subjects aged in their 20s-50s was sampled. The first medical malpractice scenario chosen was the medical malpractice case most frequently registered at the Korean Medical Association Mutual Aid and the second scenario was associated with materials and devices as the cause of malpractice. Four types of crisis communication strategy messages were utilized, consisting of denial, denial + ingratiation, apology, and apology + ingratiation. Subjects were classified into four research groups by crisis communication strategy to measure levels of trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction, before and after the occurrence of medical malpractice and application of communication strategies. The findings of this study revealed that the apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, showed a smaller difference before and after the application of communication strategies in all variables of trust (F = 8.080, F = 5.768), control mutuality (F = 8.824, F = 9.081), commitment (F = 9.815, F = 8.301), and satisfaction (F = 8.723, F = 5.638). Further, a significant interaction effect was shown between variables. The apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, was effective in the improvement of doctor-patient relationships in both Scenarios I and II. For Scenario I, the apology strategy without ingratiation boosted commitment and satisfaction, but for Scenario II, utilizing the apology strategy with ingratiation boosted the effectiveness of trust and commitment.

Public health crisis response and establishment of a crisis communication system in South Korea: lessons learned from the MERS outbreak

It is widely believed that effective communication is critical for the containment of the spread of emerging infectious diseases. Various media outlets and studies have pointed out communication failure as one of the key components that contributed to the wide and rapid spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in South Korea. To address these concerns, we first outline the definitions of risk and crisis communication and why they are important. We then illustrate communication models and guidelines utilized in three organizations (World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UK Public Health England) for health or disaster control. By analyzing the current guidelines for infectious diseases in South Korea and they were actually applied during the Middle East respiratory syndrome situation, we will assess what went wrong and what went right. Finally, we will suggest various measures that will help to ensure similar tragedies do not happen again.