Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
In
Obstetric Practice
Risk Communication in
Maternal Care
Definition
Principles of Risk Communication
Process of Risk Communication
Intervention
Evaluation
Perception
Soft skills training
Risk Communication
Interaction with internal and external
stakeholder groups about risk.
Aims at mobilizing action. Is evidence of an
organizations commitment to health and
welfare
Principles of RC
Interactive and participatory approaches
offer greater risk reduction.
Critical elements are:
Principles of RC
Relevant agencies have an important role.
Individuals and communities have a right to know
about the risks to which they are exposed and to
participate in decisions that affect their lives and
property.
RC is no substitute for regulation or action
Risk communicators are accountable to the public
and should base their actions on principles of
ethics.
RC is often an exercise in Public Relations
Situational analysis
Research the high risk mothers
Demography
Psychography
Behaviour contributing to risk
Education, knowledge, attitude
Perceptions and motivation
Cultural practices
Belief system
Community Resources
Communication channels and the various local vehicles
Identification of Opinion Leaders
Objectives
To disseminate accurate and timely information.
To maintain and strengthen credibility of the
health care providers and MOH
Motivating individuals to act.
To get immediate feedback and to take
appropriate remedial actions.
To resolve conflicts/threats in managing patients
Specific Objectives
Must be measurable for purpose of
evaluation
Addressing the gaps in knowledge, attitude,
perceptions, motivation and actions by
quantifying
Stated in the form of who, what, when
where, how.
Strategies
Strengthening existing plan of action
Develop new strategies in keeping with
current trends especially the trend from
education to promotion (Ottawa Charter
1986)
Laws governing maternal deaths
Policies
Social support
Strategies
To seek the cooperation of related
government agencies and non-government
organisations (NGOs) involved in maternal
health
To provide accurate, timely,
comprehensible information through the
use of appropriate technology and channels
of communication utilised by the mothers
Strategies
To coordinate flow of information to
internal and external stakeholders. This
includes relevant government agencies and
NGOs.
To obtain feedback of mothers at risk from
the program managers, health care workers
and researchers so as to provide the relevant
information to the target groups.
Strategies
To develop effective partnership with
groups who have the support of the high
risk mothers
To provide in-house training programmes
in communication to health care providers
handling high risk maternal cases
Communication Model
Source
Channel
Message
Feedback
Message Sources:
To identify relevant personnel who communicate
with the mothers to work as a team and provide
needed assistance
Specialists, Registrars, MOs, Interns
Hospital nursing staff
Public health personnel who have contact with
mothers
Spouse, Family members, influential community
members
Message Sources:
Webpage
Creation and updating of MOH
Webpage: The mothers as well as
health care providers would be able to
gain the latest information on maternal
care
Website
Growing trend of DIYDS playing little doctors aided by
the advent of the internet. 136 million Americans access
the net for health information.
They research their own symptoms, diagnose their own
illness and administer their own cures. Some buy their own
machines and monitor their fetuses every night. No need to
visit the doctor
Increase in over the counter drugs
Increase in Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1 in
3 Americans resort to CAM
Mark J. Penn Microtrends 2007 pgs 91-95
Delivery Channels
Obtained from Initial Assessment
Maximize effective and efficient
utilization of delivery channels in
terms of reach and frequency
Face to face in clinical settings
Home visits
Occupational settings
Organizational Activities
Human Resources: Training
Competence in communication skills:
Interpersonal skills
Persuasion, Motivation
Appealing to fear, emotional and rational
Counseling (on prevention of pregnancy,
anxiety)
Conflict resolution
Negotiation
Organizational Activities:
Training
Module
There must be a training manual, regularly
updated, with learning outcomes, content,
skill development and case studies
Community Organization
Communication should be targeted
towards relevant individuals, groups of
individuals, specific subgroups or
institutions.
The following should be taken into
consideration.
Community Organization:
Influential or Opinion leaders
Needless to say the time tested
communication method through such
leaders of communities should be
employed where and when considered
best and opinion leaders need to be
identified and utilized fully.
Community Organization:
Inter-agency collaboration
An integrated approach is sometimes the most
effective solution when individual persuasion fails
The need to collaborate and form partnerships
with women's group and to work together with
other relevant agencies should be made to discuss
strategies best suited.
Evaluation
Process evaluation (Formative)
to evaluate the activities.
Preparation of report
Distribution of report
Storage for later retrieval
Use of report for case studies and
research
Learning from past mistakes
Medias Role
Assist in education
Convey warnings.
Convey instructions.
Reassure public.
Defuse rumors.
Assist in the response effort.
Provide the agency with updated
information.
Solicit help from others.
Public Relations
Organization put under public spotlight,
management competence is questioned
Employees, public and media need to be
communicated
Difficult for managers to make god
decisions and to communicate well
PR practitioners, legal, technical experts
make a vital contribution
Target Audience
If you do not listen to people, you cannot
expect them to listen to you.
Target group have their own interests,
information needs and channels, concerns and
priorities.
People need to be sufficiently motivated to
understand complex risk information
Information about the audience characteristics
can be obtained through surveys, focus group
discussions, demographic profiles and in-depth
personal interviews
Risk Perception
Conditions associated with increased public
concern are
Catastrophic potential
Unfamiliar mechanisms
Uncertainty
Uncontrollable
Involuntary exposure
Children specifically at risk
Soft skills
Doctors with better interpersonal skills are
sued less
Thank You