Communicating Public Health Preparedness Information to Pregnant and Postpartum Women: An Assessment of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web Pages

McDonough, Brianna L.; Felter, Elizabeth M.; Downes, Amia; Trauth, Jeanette M.

doi:10.1017/dmp.2015.2

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…As others have argued, although guidelines help identify aspects of materials to be improved, their value is diminished without corresponding efforts to test usability with target audiences. 12,17 Moving forward, communities' actions toward improving the predisaster information environment can be evaluated for their success in effecting behavior change (both in real-time and following actual disasters) using emergent tools (see 39,40 ).…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of the Literacy Demands of Online Natural Disaster Preparedness Materials for Families

Franks

Cree

et al. 2019

Disaster med. public health prep.

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Objective:Natural disasters are becoming increasingly common, but it is unclear whether families can comprehend and use available resources to prepare for such emergencies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the literacy demands of risk communication materials on natural disasters for US families with children.Methods:In January 2018, we assessed 386 online self-directed learning resources related to emergency preparedness for natural disasters using 5 literacy assessment tools. Assessment scores were compared by information source, audience type, and disaster type.Results:One-in-three websites represented government institutions, and 3/4 were written for a general audience. Nearly 1-in-5 websites did not specify a disaster type. Assessment scores suggest a mismatch between the general population’s literacy levels and literacy demands of materials in the areas of readability, complexity, suitability, web usability, and overall audience appropriateness. Materials required more years of education beyond the grade level recommended by prominent health organizations. Resources for caregivers of children generally and children with special health care needs possessed lower literacy demands than materials overall, for most assessment tools.Conclusions:Risk communication and public health agencies could better align the literacy demands of emergency preparedness materials with the literacy capabilities of the general public.

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Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of the Literacy Demands of Online Natural Disaster Preparedness Materials for Families

Franks

Cree

et al. 2019

Disaster med. public health prep.

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“…The Cronbach's Alpha of the two raters' SAM scores was .892, showing relatively high internal consistency. Similar to McDonough et al, the major discrepancies with the raters' scoring were related to the applicability of certain factors and whether the factor should receive a N/A designation (24).…”

Section: Table 3 Simple Bar Mean Of Average Sam Scores By State Table...mentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Doak et al created the SAM tool to assess health education materials in six areas: content, readability, graphics, layout and type, learning stimulation and motivation, and cultural appropriateness (12). The SAM tool has been deployed in multiple evaluations of print and online health education materials for a variety of topics including public health preparedness, male infertility, and colorectal cancer screening (24,26,31).…”

Section: Suitabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Readability, Suitability, and Content Evaluation of Initial, Online Masking Guidance from U.S. States during the COVID-19 Pandemic

McCreavy

Piccoli

Krier

et al. 2021

American Journal of Health Education

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Background: In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, cloth face coverings developed into an essential and widely mandated non-pharmaceutical intervention to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. With the introduction of face mask orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the general public may have turned to their state government or health department's website to find information related to face coverings.Aims: This study seeks to evaluate the readability, suitability, and content of initial masking guidance on state government or state health department websites from U.S. states with face mask orders during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: From states with mask mandates (n=41), masking guidance and education related to face coverings was collected from June 1st, 2020 to July 15th, 2020 from state government and state health department websites. Each state's education on face coverings was assessed using three readability indices: Fog Index (FOG), the Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and the Flesch Kincaid Grade level and the Suitability Assessment for Materials tool for suitability.A novel masking guidance-specific score was developed to evaluate the content on face coverings.Results: Masking guidance varied in literacy demand, format, and content. The mean readability of 11.54 (SD=1.85) surpasses the recommended 6-7 th grade level. The mean SAM score of 55.9 (SD=9.6) is considered "adequate" for suitability. The mean content score was 5.85 v (SD=1.30), and only 18 states' masking guidance contained all seven points of information related to face coverings.Conclusions: Although most states' initial masking guidance was suitable and contained necessary information, the inconsistency and high readability prevented the American public from educating themselves, ultimately limiting adherence to the mask mandates. During a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, readable, suitable, and comprehensive and consistent online information is vital in encouraging adherence to public health orders and promoting other preventive health behaviors. vi Table of ContentsPreface .

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“…Websites as tools for preparedness rely on the premise that the audience will engage with the material through selfdirected learning (McDonough et al 2015). In the United States, people increasingly rely on the internet for health information (Henderson et al 2016;Wimble 2016) and for information related to disasters and emergency preparedness (Friedman et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multiple channels of communication, including government websites, are necessary to promote public heat-health preparedness, especially in heat-islandprone metropolitan areas (Madrigano et al 2018). Yet, information provided on websites can be problematic in terms of suitability of content and communication elements (McDonough et al 2015;Schmalzried et al 2012). Even people aware of a heat warning can fail to recognize their vulnerability to an extreme heat event (Bassil and Cole 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communicating Heat-Health Information to the Public: Assessing Municipal Government Extreme Heat Event Website Content

Zottarelli

Blake

Garza

2022

Weather, Climate, and Society

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Extreme heat events pose a threat to human health. Forecasting and warning strategies have been developed to mitigate heat-health hazards. Yet, studies have found that the public lacks knowledge about their heat-health risks and preventive actions to take to reduce risks. Local governmental websites are an important means to communicate preparedness to the public. The purpose of this study is to examine information provided to the public on municipal government webpages of the 10 most populous U.S. cities. A two-level document and content analyses were conducted. A direct content analysis was conducted using federal government websites and documents to create the Extreme Heat Event Public Response Rubric. The Rubric contains two broad categories of populations and actions that are further specified. The Rubric was then used to examine local government extreme heat event websites for the 10 most populous cities in the U.S. The examination of the local government sites found that information included on the websites failed to identify the breadth of populations at greater risk for adverse heat-health outcomes and omitted some recommended actions designed to prevent adverse heat-health events. Local governments often communicated concrete and simple content to the public but more complex information was not included on their websites.

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Communicating Public Health Preparedness Information to Pregnant and Postpartum Women: An Assessment of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web Pages

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

An Evaluation of the Literacy Demands of Online Natural Disaster Preparedness Materials for Families

An Evaluation of the Literacy Demands of Online Natural Disaster Preparedness Materials for Families

Readability, Suitability, and Content Evaluation of Initial, Online Masking Guidance from U.S. States during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Communicating Heat-Health Information to the Public: Assessing Municipal Government Extreme Heat Event Website Content

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