Communicating in the aftermath of an earthquake: when Twitter proves to be a trustworthy and empathetic information channel.

<p>Twitter has proved to be a powerful tool for the dissemination of scientific information in the aftermath of a seismic event. During an earthquake crisis, the affected population is in need of rapid, reliable information on what has just happened and what to do next to stay safe. However, it is not rare that reliable earthquake information takes a few minutes to be accessible and shared with the population. This shortcoming can have harmful impact: every time there is a lack of information, rumors fill the void and misinformation spreads. To make matters worse, scientific communication is often jargon-laden and hence perceived as overly technical, inappropriate, and unfeeling. Effective earthquake communication must therefore be:</p><ul><li>rapid and clear, to prevent fake news from spreading;</li> <li>transparent, by acknowledging uncertainty if reliable information is not available yet;</li> <li>empathetic and compassionate, to decrease anxiety and promote a sense of calming.</li> </ul><p>In this light, we discuss the communication strategy of @LastQuake, the official Twitter channel (160k followers) of the Euro-Med Seismological Centre. When an earthquake strikes and is felt by the population, real-time information on the seismic event begins to be automatically published via a twitter-robot. These automatic tweets range from easily-accessible scientific information about the earthquake location and magnitude, to the shaking felt by the earthquake eyewitnesses, to the safety guidelines and –where applicable– to tsunami warnings. Our automatic tweets have little or no technical jargon. The Information is primarily accessed by users who are in the midst of responding and possibly traumatized. Hence our words, tone, and images have been carefully chosen to provide competent and appropriate communication. Meanwhile, when necessary, further tweets may be manually published to counter the onset of specific false claims and theories, or to address cultural and situational specific needs.  </p><p>Our discussion will outline the current @lastquake twitter-bot environment and discuss evidence-based best practices for using Twitter for earthquake crisis communication to avoid misinformation and promote self and community efficacy.</p>

Telling stories in science communication: case studies of scholar-practitioner collaboration

Reflecting on the practice of storytelling, this practice insight explores how collaborations between scholars and practitioners can improve storytelling for science communication outcomes with publics. The case studies presented demonstrate the benefits of collaborative storytelling for inspiring publics, promoting understanding of science, and engaging publics more deliberatively in science. The projects show how collaboration between scholars and practitioners [in storytelling] can happen across a continuum of scholarship from evaluation and action research to more critical thinking perspectives. They also show how stories of possible futures and community efficacy can support greater engagement of publics in evidence-informed policymaking. Storytelling in collaborations between scholars and practitioners involves many activities: combining cultural and scientific understandings; making publics central to storytelling; equipping scientists to tell their own stories directly to publics; co-creating stories; and retelling collaborative success stories. Collaborative storytelling, as demonstrated in these case studies, may improve the efficacy of science communication practice as well as its scholarship.

Latinx Immigrant Farmworker Community Health Promotion: A Needs Assessment

The present study examined the health promotion intervention needs of Latinx immigrant farmworker families residing in Oregon. Grounded theory qualitative procedures were used to analyze the needs assessment data from 31 Latinx immigrant farmworker residents and key informant interviews as well as four focus groups with resident youth and parents. A theoretical model of how key family-based health behaviors can both confer risk for and protection against negative physical, mental, and social health outcomes among Latinx farmworking communities emerged. Six primary areas of concern emerged from these data, leading to the identification of primary health promotion intervention needs with three foci: (a) the provision of sustainable supports and resources, (b) skill development so that individuals could successfully negotiate identified challenges, and (c) greater community efficacy. Findings underscore the importance of social support and resource accessibility for Latinx immigrant populations.

The Power of Radio to Promote Health and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Review

Humanitarian radio has been used in humanitarian aid efforts and after natural disasters over the last 15 years. However, the effects have barely been evaluated, and there are few scientific reports on the impact of radio as a disaster health response intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to provide an overview of the use and impact of humanitarian radio in natural disasters from a health perspective. A literature review of 13 scientific papers and grey literature resources was conducted. The results show that humanitarian radio could be used to promote both physical and psychosocial wellbeing by providing health-related information, advice and psychosocial support in natural disasters. Community resilience can be enhanced by the promotion of community engagement and can strengthen self-efficacy and community efficacy. Radio also has the potential to cost-effectively reach a large number of affected people in areas with severely damaged infrastructure. Radio could, therefore, contribute to health recovery and wellbeing from both individual and community perspectives. As such, health professionals; crises communication professionals, including radio journalists; and disaster-managing stakeholders should be prepared and trained to use humanitarian radio as an integrated part of the disaster health response in natural disasters.

Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching: Teacher Training Outcomes of a Community Efficacy Trial

Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching (CPRT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that was systematically adapted for teacher use. In this study, the authors evaluate outcomes of a large randomized trial training teachers ( n = 126) to use CPRT. Training involved 12 hours of small group sessions and additional 1:1 coaching in each teacher’s classroom. Overall, CPRT fidelity was significantly higher at the end of the training year relative to the observation year ( B = 0.24, p = .001) and teachers report using CPRT an average of 47 minutes per day. Moderator analyses indicate that training, teacher, and classroom- and school-level characteristics affected CPRT fidelity. Teachers report high overall satisfaction ( M = 4.37, SD = 0.45; 1-5 Likert-type scale) and confidence in their ability to use CPRT with their students ( M = 4.2, SD = 0.57). In this study, the authors indicate the acceptability and feasibility of the CPRT training protocol and adds to the limited number of school-based randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating interventions for students with ASD.