Metaphors and Risk Cognition in the Discourse on Food-Borne Diseases

The aim of this contribution is to discuss the most important issues connected with communicating food-borne diseases. The investigation focuses on the role of symbolic language in informing stakeholders about food-borne crisis situations. To narrow the scope of the research, the study concentrates on metaphors and their role in risk cognition, especially in the face of information overload. This approach allows the author to study the metaphorical dimension of risk cognition as well as its dynamics connected with the necessity of a constant response to changing internal and external conditions. Theoretical investigations on metaphors in food, health and risk discourse are often supported by empirical analyses on the use of metaphors in communicating food-borne diseases. This study encompasses selected materials on food-borne diseases gathered from Italian online sources and covers the corpus of investigated verbal metaphors. The aim of this chapter is to show whether metaphors strengthen or weaken risk cognition, and how far they determine the risk communication of food-borne diseases.

Communicating risk to aboriginal peoples: first nations and Metis responses to H1N1 risk messages

Developing appropriate risk messages during challenging situations like public health outbreaks is complicated. The focus of this paper is on how First Nations and Metis people in Manitoba, Canada, responded to the public health management of pandemic H1N1, using a focus group methodology (n = 23 focus groups). Focus group conversations explored participant reactions to messaging regarding the identification of H1N1 virus risk groups, the H1N1 vaccine and how priority groups to receive the vaccine were established. To better contextualize the intentions of public health professionals, key informant interviews (n = 20) were conducted with different health decision makers (e.g., public health officials, people responsible for communications, representatives from some First Nations and Metis self-governing organizations). While risk communication practice has improved, ‘one size’ messaging campaigns do not work effectively, particularly when communicating about who is most ‘at-risk’. Public health agencies need to pay more attention to the specific socio-economic, historical and cultural contexts of First Nations and Metis citizens when planning for, communicating and managing responses associated with pandemic outbreaks to better tailor both the messages and delivery. More attention is needed to directly engage First Nations and Metis communities in the development and dissemination of risk messaging.