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Caron Chess

Publications and source records attributed to Caron Chess.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

False alarms, real challenges--one university's communication response to the 2001 anthrax crisis.

Considerable research exists on how government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels communicated during the fall 2001 anthrax attacks. However, there is little research on how other institutions handled this crisis, in terms of their response to potential anthrax contamination (aka "white powder scares") and their approach to disseminating important health and safety information. In this article, we investigate a major university's communication response to the anthrax crisis. First, we describe its communication experiences relating to a large white powder scare that occurred in October 2001. Second, we describe the university's broader communication efforts in terms of several important elements of risk communication research, including influence of source attributes, key messages, preferred channels, responses to information requests, and organizational influences. This study underlines that an institution does not have to be directly affected by a crisis to find itself on the communication "front lines." Moreover, other institutions may find it useful to learn from the experiences of this university, so that they may communicate more effectively during future crises.

Anthrax↗
PubMed2003

Evaluating citizen advisory boards: the importance of theory and participant-based criteria and practical implications.

The role of risk communication and public participation in environmental and public policy decision making has significantly increased over the last 15 years and remains an important social policy issue. In spite of this emphasis, government officials and participants in the process continue to struggle with what makes for "good" public participation. This study used two frameworks--one theoretical and one participant-based-to evaluate two U.S Army Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs). The theoretical framework explores the extent to which the RABs facilitate Habermas's idealized conditions of speech as related to fairness. Not surprisingly, we found that the two RABs do not consistently foster the idealized aspects of fairness suggested by Habermas. The participant-based criteria were elicited through interviews with participants from the various stakeholder groups represented on the RAB, direct observation of RAB meetings, and a review of RAB-related documents. We found that participants' value outcomes (the results of participatory processes) and not just the process itself, which is the focus of the theoretical framework. We also found that participants in the various stakeholder groups had different perceptions of the goals of the participatory process, which were closely related to their notions of success. Our results illustrate both the complexity and importance of using multiple frameworks for evaluating participatory efforts and the need for more systematic evaluation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Evaluating risk communication about fish consumption advisories: efficacy of a brochure versus a classroom lesson in Spanish and English.

Presentation format can influence the way target audiences understand risk-related information. Brochures or fish fact sheets are the methods traditionally used by state agencies to inform the public about fish consumption advisories and the risks from consuming fish. This study examines the efficacy of presenting information about the risks from consuming contaminated fish and shellfish in two different formats: a brochure and classroom presentation. The two instruments were developed and tested in Spanish and English, reflecting the local ethnic composition in the Newark Bay Complex. The instruments were tested on women of child-bearing age at the Women, Infants, and Children Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Detailed diagrams were used in both presentations, including contaminated fish species, fish preparation methods, and food chain bioaccumulation and transmission to the fetus. There were few language-related differences in the efficacy of the classroom lesson, and the main ideas were understood by both groups. Where there were significant differences in understanding about the risks from consuming fish or crabs from the contaminated waters of Newark Bay, in all cases the women exposed to the classroom lesson had a better understanding than those who read the brochure. Ninety-six percent of the women who heard the lesson understood that it was unsafe to eat fish from the port, compared to 72% of those reading the brochure. Both formats succeeded in imparting information to most women about the area under advisories, the fish species under advisories, and transmission of toxins to the fetus. Information on fish preparation was recalled less clearly, partly because women were asked to relate methods to reduce the risk from consuming fish from 11 presented, and most recalled only two or three of the list. The advantages and disadvantages of conducting short classes to women of child-bearing age are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Communicating worst-case scenarios: neighbors' views of industrial accident management.

The prospect of industrial accidents motivated the U.S. Congress to require in the Clean Air Act of 1990 that manufacturing facilities develop Risk Management Plans (RMP) to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) by July 1999. Industry worried that the requirement to communicate to the public a "worst-case scenario" would arouse unnecessary and counterproductive fears among industry neighbors. We report here the results of focus groups and surveys with such neighbors, focusing particularly upon their reactions to messages about a hypothetical worst-case scenario and management of these risks by industry, government, and other parties. Our findings confirmed our hypotheses that citizens would be skeptical of the competence and trustworthiness of these managers and that this stance would color their views of industrial-facility accident risks. People with job ties to industry or who saw industrial benefits to the community as exceeding its risks had more positive views of industrial risks, but still expressed great concern about the risk and doubt about accident management. Notwithstanding these reactions, overall respondents welcomed this and other related information, which they wanted their local industries to supply. Respondents were not more reassured by additional text describing management of accidents by government and industry. However, respondents did react very positively to the concept of community oversight to review plant safety. Claims about the firm's moral obligation or financial self-interest in preventing accidents were also received positively. Further research on innovative communication and management of accident risks is warranted by these results, even before recent terrorist attacks made this topic more salient.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2003

How reassuring are risk comparisons to pollution standards and emission limits?

Pollutant emissions or ambient levels are often justified by reference to a higher benchmark, such as a public health standard or permit limit. However, does this risk comparison persuade the public audiences to whom it is frequently directed that such pollution levels are "acceptable"? A substantial proportion of people living within one mile of New Jersey's industrial facilities, perhaps as much as half, is indeed reassured by a comparison to such benchmarks. Positive attitudes toward discharge limits were linked to speaking English at home; positive attitudes toward drinking water standards were associated with seeing local benefits of industry as outweighing its risks, not speaking English, and relative youth (49 years old or less). Three scenarios involving drinking water contamination varied pre- and post-treatment levels of the pollutant, though all post-treatment levels were below the standard. In all cases great concern was expressed, with no significant differences across scenarios; net benefits, being white, and non-English speaking were linked to lower concern. Relative trust seems a better explanation of different attitudes toward benchmark comparisons than varying levels of knowledge, but both hypotheses have drawbacks that merit further testing. These results imply that people with negative views of industry or government, the ones officials might most wish to reassure, will tend to doubt that regulatory benchmarks offer a valid risk comparison.

Adult↗