Applied Risk Communication: Strategy, Crisis, and Practice
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Program Overview
Build the strategic knowledge and practical skills to communicate about science and health with clarity and credibility in today’s information environment.
In an era defined by ‘infodemics’, fractured media trust, and AI-generated content, effective communication of health and science is a leadership imperative. Public health crises, vaccine controversies, and institutional emergencies demand communicators who can lead by building strategy under uncertainty, managing conflicting evidence, engaging skeptical, frightened or unengaged audiences, and responding in real time to misinformation. The gap between knowing the principles, theories, and evidence of science and health communication and being able to apply them fluently under normal times and in times of public health emergencies is precisely what this course is designed to do.
This course develops the knowledge, evidence base, and applied judgment that professionals need to navigate this landscape effectively. Drawing on contemporary research in risk and science communication, health communication, emotion science, media studies, and communication and information technologies, participants will move from understanding how and why people respond to health information to designing communication strategies that are evidence-based, audience-centered, and evidence-informed. Through video lectures, guided case analyses, and applied exercises, the course covers the full arc of health communication practice from foundational theory and the modern information environment to message design, equity considerations, digital and AI-enabled platforms, emotional dynamics in risk judgment, and the challenge of communicating in conditions of scientific uncertainty and public controversy.
Video lectures, guided case analyses, applied exercises, and faculty-facilitated discussion work together to ensure that concepts are not only understood but connected directly to the communication challenges participants face in their own organizations and contexts. No prior formal training in communication is required.
Program Details
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand how science and health information and misinformation flows in a complex digital information ecosystems
- Lead the development of a comprehensive, multi-channel health communication strategy tailored to a specific public health context, audience, and set of organizational constraints
- Apply risk perception research and emotion science to design messages that reduce unnecessary fear, sustain public motivation to act, and maintain long-term trust
- Facilitate organizational communication decision-making during normal and in times of emergencies, including conditions of scientific uncertainty, expert disagreement, or eroded institutional credibility
- Critically evaluate health communication campaigns and institutional responses for strategic effectiveness, equity implications, and ethical dimensions, identifying key failures and recommending evidence-informed improvements
- Develop and present a complete strategic communication plan for their own organization or context, including audience segmentation, message frameworks, platform selection, and metrics for evaluation