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. 2020 Apr;25(13):2000317.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.13.2000317.

Understanding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk perceptions among the public to enhance risk communication efforts: a practical approach for outbreaks, Finland, February 2020

Anna-Leena Lohiniva  1 , Jussi Sane  1 , Katja Sibenberg  1 , Taneli Puumalainen  1 , Mika Salminen  1
Affiliations

Understanding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk perceptions among the public to enhance risk communication efforts: a practical approach for outbreaks, Finland, February 2020

Anna-Leena Lohiniva et al. Euro Surveill. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Understanding risk perceptions of the public is critical for risk communication. In February 2020, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare started collecting weekly qualitative data on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk perception that informs risk communication efforts. The process is based on thematic analysis of emails and social media messages from the public and identifies factors linked to appraisal of risk magnitude, which are developed into risk communication recommendations together with health and communication experts.

Keywords: Finland; outbreaks; pandemic preparedness and response; risk communication; risk perception.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

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