A Citizen's Guide to Health Risk in Canada: A Cross-Cultural Dialog. Christina Lindsay, Eco-Research Group in Environmental Risk Management, Environmental Health Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G3
Risk communication must provide relevant risk information in an understandable format to those who need it. Three aspects of risk communication--understandability, relevancy and accessibility--are essential considerations in both the design of the process and of the risk communication itself. Much has been written about the mechanics of presenting risk information--its understandability--but my research addresses all three components by considering risk communication from an anthropological perspective. That is, that risk is a culturally constructed phenomenon and, to be successful, risk communication should take into account the social and cultural backgrounds of all those involved in the process. In short, risk communication should be considered as a cross-cultural communication process. This is not "cultural" in the traditional sense of ethnicity, but refers to those who produce the risk information--usually scientists and experts--and those who use the information--in this case, the public(s)--as being of different cultural groups with different backgrounds, values, beliefs and needs. By recognizing these different cultural traditions, and by incorporating them all into the design of the risk communication, from the beginning, the three components of risk communication can be more fully realized.
This hypothesis will be tested by involving the intended audience(s) of a health risk communication in a two-way, interactive dialogue, throughout the entire process of the risk communication design, with those developing the communication. Participation will be achieved through a series of focus groups, individual interviews and a survey conducted through the Internet. This research is part of a larger project to develop a "Citizen's Guide to Health Risk in Canada", which seeks to promote the autonomy of Canadians in making their decisions about health risks, by presenting information about these risks based on Canadian mortality statistics and by explaining the process, and limitations, of developing such information.