Risk Communication and Community Engagement

Public Health Emergency risk communication is the real-time exchange of information between experts, officials, and the public who face a crisis that threatens their safety and security to empower then to make an informed decision towards the desired behavior and also to engage them to prevent the anticipated or anticipated risks.
Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) refers to the processes and approaches to systematically engage and communicate with people and communities to encourage and enable communities to promote healthy behaviors and prevent the spread of infectious diseases or hazards during public health events, like the current COVID-19 outbreak.

Why is it important to include RCCE as part of the national public health emergency response?

• One of the most important and effective interventions in public health response to any event is to proactively communicate:
• What is known,
• What is unknown and,
• What is being done to get more information with the objective of saving lives and minimizing adverse consequences.
• RCCE helps prevent infodemics (the spread of misinformation), builds trust in the response and increases the probability that health advice is followed.
• Proactive communication and engagement with the public and at risk populations on a consistent basis can help alleviate confusion and misunderstanding.
• People have the right to be informed and understand the health risks they face, in addition to that of their loved ones.
• Effective RCCE helps transform and deliver complex scientific knowledge which is understood by, accessible to, and trusted by populations and communities.
• Effective RCCE uses community engagement strategies to involve communities in the response.
• RCCE is essential for surveillance, case reporting, contract tracing, caring for the sick and clinical care, and mobilizing local support for any logistic and operational needs of the response.