ZIKA RISK SALIENCE AND EVOLVING RISK COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE

This study is funded by the Decision, Risk and Management Sciences/National Science Foundation. This research involves a series of representative national panel surveys to examine how various social, scientific, and policy cues influence the US public’s appreciation of the risk of the Zika virus over time, as well as the public’s receptivity to various clinical, environmental, and behavioral interventions.

The study, which examines Rapid Response Research (RAPID) related to Zika virus, will contribute to several disciplinary perspectives, notably those of risk assessment, hazard-related decision-making, and public health risk communication. The aims of the research are to: (1) chart the trajectory of risk salience as exposure and certainty of the Zika virus increases; (2) identify and analyze the impact of social, scientific, and policy cues and discourse on risk salience; and (3) describe and analyze group differences in the evolving attitudes related to risk perception, as well as receptivity to policy, programmatic, and clinical interventions.