Health Risk Communication

- Is a plume migrating off your installation toward a public water supply?
- Are your troops going to be vaccinated for smallpox before deployment?
- Do you face public opposition to your live training exercises?
- Do you have an emergency plan if all lines of communication are disabled by a dirty bomb?
In these and similar situations, risk communication is essential.

What Is Risk Communication?

Risk communication is a process, not an event. It is a proactive, strategic planning process in which stakeholders, issues, and concerns are identified in order to develop and implement plans and strategic partnerships to communicate the complexities and uncertainties of risk. It requires technical and legal understanding, as well as the ability to incorporate social, political, and economic factors into risk management decisions.

The USACHPPM Health Risk Communication Program integrates risk communication concepts into the military mission by promoting strategic partnerships with stakeholders, leading to mutual gains in sustaining our troops, surrounding communities, and the environment.

"Your knowledge and expertise have had an impact across the Army. Your reputation is one that beckons to organizations around the globe to seek your assistance." - William T. Bester, Brigadier General, U.S. Army, commanding USACHPPM

Our Services

To help you build and maintain positive relationships with stakeholders, we offer a variety of services, including training, consulting, and conflict management. Our courses provide you with the framework to build lasting, positive relationships with stakeholders and repair broken relationships. Our consulting services help you identify, analyze, and strategically plan to address risk issues. Our conflict management team can enable you to understand conflict and provide you with tools to engage in joint problem-solving.

Our Introductory and Advanced Risk Communication Workshops provide participants with:

• an understanding of the concepts, principles, and process of effective risk communication
• key communication skills for building, maintaining, and repairing stakeholder relationships
• hands-on practice in risk communication planning, including identification of appropriate tools for effective communication with stakeholders and the media

Next Workshops:

• Health Risk Communication Introductory Workshop
  Providence, RI, June 3-5, 2003
• Health Risk Communication Advanced Workshop
  Denver, CO, July 21-24, 2003

Our Experience

The staff at CHPPM's Health Risk Communication Program has been providing training and consulting services to military services and government organizations for nearly ten years. Our staff has conducted needs assessments, strategic planning, specialized training, and rapid response communication assistance for a variety of internal and external issues, including:

Deployment Homeland Security Environmental Cleanup Smallpox Vaccines Readiness and Sustainability Aircraft Noise Groundwater Contamination Gulf War Syndrome

Drinking Water Quality Cancer Cluster Concerns Unexploded Ordnance Evacuation Planning Crisis Communication Bioterrorism Property Values

Our training courses have reached more than 10,000 employees from the Department of Defense and other federal, state and local agencies.

For more information, visit the Health Risk Communication Program pages on the USACHPPM web site:
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/risk/default.aspx