Grant: Operating Grant: Health Systems Research on H1N1

Effective communication or "knowledge translation" about health risks such as those posed by the H1N1 virus is important to ensure that people feel informed about the risk and consequences, and to help them make good decisions about self-protection. This study will look at the effectiveness of public health agency communication about H1N1 with two groups of people considered particularly vulnerable or "at-risk" if they were to become infected with H1N1: pregnant women and seniors. The content of public health information sources, media and internet sites will be examined. Focus groups will be held with women pregnant during the outbreak and vaccination period (May 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010) and with seniors age 65 or older to determine: their sources of information; trust in these sources; effectiveness of this information uptake and understanding of the information; and how this information was used in making individual decisions on preventative behaviours (including being vaccinated or not). The focus group information will then be used to design a survey that will assess if this information can be generalized for a larger population of pregnant women and seniors. Interviews will also be conducted with health reporters about the types of information they used for their stories, and the decisions they made about what to report. Finally, the use of new types of interactive internet communication (such as blogs and social networking sites) for locating information and engaging in dialogue with other Canadians about issues related to H1N1 transmission, vaccination, etc. will be examined. The results of this study will help public health agencies to understand better the effectiveness of their communications with vulnerable populations, and how these might be improved or expanded in the event of future outbreaks.