Risk Communication and Public Health - Softcover

Review from previous edition Anyone involved in risk communication should find this book useful. It is up to date and well referenced and indexed. (BMJ)

This is a risky book. It is published at a time when public interest in public health issues is probably greater than at any time before. The book is risky because it is honest: honest about the state of knowledge about risk and risk communication across a wide range of public health issues, and honest about the state of relationships between science, the public and those public institutions responsible for regulating risk. Risk Communication and Public Health should be required reading for policy makers and professionals responsible for public health... campaigners, academics and students will also find it of value. An edited collection with crisp analysis of the issues. (Posted on Amazon.co.uk)

This book is packed with information. It has been well constructed by the editors and brings together a wide variety of perspectives from a very impressive list of authors... it is highly readable, densely packed and valuable source of reference and learning... It comes highly recommended as an addition to the bookshelf for all public health practitioners. (Teri Knight, Health Services Management Centre in the Royal Society of Medicine 15, 67-70)

Controversies about risks to public health regularly hit the news, whether about food safety, environmental issues, medical interventions, or "lifestyle" risks such as drinking. To those trying to manage or regulate risks, public reactions sometimes seem bizarre. To the public, the behaviour of those supposedly "in charge" can seem no less odd. Trust is currently at a premium.

This new edition of Risk Communication and Public Health covers the theoretical and research background, and presents a wide range of contemporary case studies and the learning experiences from these, and the political, institutional and organisational issues they raise. It concludes with an analysis of the lessons learned and gives pointers for the future. The book offers international perspectives, and contributors include representatives from consumer organisations as well as public health practitioners and academics. This edition is substantially updated with new material and case studies, but retains the same focus - the improvement of communication and promotion of "good practice" in risk communication, in Government, the Health Service and elsewhere.

This second edition presents a broad view of the issues around risk communication and public health in a way that will be of interest to a range of public health practitioners, managers and policy makers, postgraduate students and academics in a number of disciplines, and those interested in environmental health.