The Risk Communication and Information Sharing Workgroup held its October call on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 1 PM Eastern Time. Seven workgroup members participated in the call. The group discussed the status of three abstracts submitted to the 2015 Preparedness Summit. The group voted to move forward with developing a policy statement to address communications capacity at local health departments during public health emergencies. A NACCHO policy scholar will begin working with the group on the November call to research and write the first draft of the statement.
The group also spent some time discussing the various challenges that their local health departments have faced regarding Ebola. Group members noted varied responses with some being very involved with Ebola risk messaging and media requests and others having very little involvement. The group also noted that healthcare partners in their communities were appreciative of receiving guidance from their health departments on risk communication.
The next workgroup call will take place on Tuesday, November 4 at 1 PM Eastern Time.