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Acknowledging Uncertainty and the Scientific Process Increases Perceived Trustworthiness and Understanding of Public
Brian Southwell1, Sarah E Sheff, Linda Squiers
1Author Affiliations: RTI International, Triangle Park, NC, USA (Drs Southwell, Sheff, Squiers, and Madson); and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Triangle Park, NC, USA (Dr Mitchell, Dr Pechta, Mss Sokler, and Mitchko).
Enhanced public health messages acknowledging uncertainty and explaining science significantly boost trustworthiness and understanding. Clear communication about foodborne illness outbreaks improves community relations.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Communication
- Risk Communication
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Communicating public health emergencies like foodborne illness outbreaks presents challenges.
- Traditional messaging often focuses on facts, potentially neglecting audience trust and comprehension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if comprehensive public health messages enhance perceived trustworthiness and scientific understanding.
- To compare enhanced messages (acknowledging uncertainty, explaining science) against basic factual ones.
Main Methods:
- 4040 participants were randomly assigned to one of four message groups.
- Messages varied regarding information on a hypothetical foodborne illness outbreak.
- Key outcomes measured were perceived message trustworthiness and understanding of the investigation process.
Main Results:
- Enhanced messages significantly increased perceived trustworthiness and understanding.
- Participants receiving messages with explicit uncertainty explanations and updates reported higher trust.
- The enhanced communication strategy led to the highest scores in assurance and understanding.
Conclusions:
- Public health communication requires acknowledging uncertainty and explaining scientific processes.
- Enhanced messaging, including compassion and transparency, improves audience response and community relations.
- Effective communication strategies can mitigate challenges in informing the public during complex health situations.
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