Source: United States Navy (Medical)
By Douglas H Stutz, NHB/NMRTC Bremerton public affairs officer — Risk communication skills were pointedly providing recently at Naval Hospital Bremerton.
NHB staff members were emphatically directed on risk communication principles and practices in a recent workshop from Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command public health communication experts, including Sandy Martinez, Fulton Communication chief executive officer.
Martinez actively engaged with a few staff in attendance, such as Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman John Buxton, a St. Louis native, on understanding the basic concepts of risk communication which requires skill in three [overlapping] arenas; Perception of risk, based on science, data, and facts; Agendas, which range from personal, economic, and political to cultural, social, historical and more; Emotions such as anger and fear.
The workshop, specifically tailored for the healthcare environment of Navy Medicine and Defense Health Agency, covered topical concerns on how to prepare for difficult – and demanding – questions or statements in a healthcare crisis; non-verbal communication awareness, and how to craft messaging and talking points.
There were also simulated interactive exercises designed to put staff under the spotlight glare of responding to a variety of queries from awkward to anxious to angry.
Martinez, along with Paul Gillooly, Navy Public Health risk assessor and risk communicator, ensured active duty and civil service personnel received the “tools needed to successfully communicate with [internal and external] stakeholders in a variety of situation.”