November 2, 2006
UW and Public Health partnership yields award-winning results
Public health communications professionals from around the country honored a joint effort by the UW and Public Health-Seattle & King County to prepare public health workers and people in related fields to get emergency information out to residents quickly and effectively.
“Emergency Risk Communication for Public Health Professionals,” an online training course developed by the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, received the 2006 Gold Award for Excellence in Public Health Communication from the National Public Health Information Coalition last week. As a feature of the training, the UW team worked with Public Health-Seattle & King County to develop an interactive simulation of a flu pandemic. The innovative use of video, audio, and online technologies — combined with a realistic scenario — creates a virtual experience that prepares public health communicators for the stress of an actual emergency.
“We’re pleased to receive this recognition for the outreach we’ve been doing on emergency preparedness,” noted Mark Oberle, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at the UW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine. “Effective responses to public health emergencies require strong collaborations, and this partnership with Public Health-Seattle & King County is a fine example of that.”
“Emergency Risk Communication for Public Health Professionals” is available at http://www.nwcphp.org/riskcomm. Funding for the training course was provided from a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, with additional support from the National Association of County and City Health Officials through an Advanced Practice Center grant.
