HLTH 5053 Module 4 Risk and Interpersonal Communication Plan Example

Be First, Be Right, Be Kind: Crisis Risk Communication for a Four-Day Heat Emergency and a Buddy Caller's Conversation With a Reluctant Resident

Student Name

American College of Education

HLTH5053: Public Health Literacy and Communication

Module 4 Assignment

Instructor Name

October 26, 2026

Two Kinds of Communication in One Emergency

The strategy developed in the previous module set up messages, messengers and channels for older adults living alone in six senior buildings. This module tests that strategy against a hard scenario: a forecast of four consecutive days of extreme heat, with overnight temperatures staying high and the power company warning of possible rolling outages. In that situation, the health department must communicate in two ways at once. It must speak publicly, through media, voice calls and posters, under uncertainty and time pressure. And its volunteers must speak privately, one resident at a time, in phone calls that may decide whether a frail person leaves a hot apartment. This paper plans both.

A Model for Communicating Before and During a Crisis

Reynolds and Seeger (2005) proposed crisis and emergency risk communication as a model that integrates risk communication, which prepares people for hazards before they occur, with crisis communication, which responds as events unfold, and they described how communication needs shift across the stages of a crisis, from before an event through its initial phase, maintenance and resolution to evaluation. The CDC's program built on that model teaches six principles: be first, be right, be credible, express empathy, promote action and show respect (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025). Each principle translates into specific choices for this heat emergency.

Applying the Six Principles

Be first means the department speaks as soon as the forecast is credible, not when the first heat death is reported. When the National Weather Service forecasts dangerous heat two days out, the department's first message goes out that afternoon, telling residents the danger is coming and what to prepare. Be right means every message states only what is known: the forecast, the cooling center hours, the ride line number. Be credible means acknowledging uncertainty openly, including that power outages are possible but not certain, rather than issuing false reassurance that could be exposed later. Express empathy means recognizing that leaving home is hard for many older adults and that the heat is frightening. Promote action means giving residents something to do in every message, whether preparing a cool room, arranging a ride or putting the nurse line number by the phone. Show respect means speaking to residents as capable adults, in their languages, without blame. A heat message that frightens without offering a next step fails the fourth and fifth principles at once.

Communicating About the Power Outage Risk

The possible outage is the hardest message, because it combines real danger with genuine uncertainty. If power fails, air-conditioned common rooms and fans stop working, and residents on upper floors may be unable to use elevators. The department will say plainly what it knows and does not know: outages are possible in the afternoon and early evening, the power company does not know which areas will be affected, and the department is preparing. It will then say what residents should do now, such as spending afternoons at the library cooling center, which has a backup generator, keeping a list of medicines and a phone charger ready, and telling their buddy caller if they cannot manage stairs. Updates will be issued at set times each morning and afternoon, even when nothing has changed, because silence during uncertainty invites rumor.

The Buddy Call

The daily call is where communication reaches the people most at risk, and it must be planned as carefully as the press release. Volunteer callers will use a short guide rather than a script to read aloud. They begin by greeting the resident by name and asking how they are, then ask three open questions: how hot is your apartment right now, have you been drinking water today, and what are your plans for the afternoon. They share one message, where to go and how to get there, and then use teach-back, asking the resident to say in their own words where they will go or whom they will call if they feel unwell. A systematic review by Ha Dinh et al. (2016) reported gains in knowledge of the condition, adherence and confidence in self-care in several studies of the method, although effects on outcomes such as hospitalization were not always statistically significant. For this call, teach-back does something simpler but vital: it tells the caller whether the resident understood.

When a Resident Will Not Leave

Some residents will refuse to go anywhere, and callers must respect that choice while reducing risk. The guide asks callers to find out why, whether fear of falling, not wanting to leave a pet or distrust of shelters, and to address the reason if they can, for example by arranging a ride with a driver who will walk the resident to the door or suggesting the air-conditioned room on the resident's own floor. If the resident still declines, the caller offers alternatives, such as cool showers, a wet cloth on the neck, keeping blinds closed and calling back in two hours. Callers escalate to the building manager and a wellness visit if the resident sounds confused, cannot be reached after two attempts, reports symptoms of heat illness or says the apartment is extremely hot. Respecting autonomy does not mean leaving someone alone in danger; it means offering real choices and staying in contact.

A Sample Call

The guide is easier to follow when volunteers can hear how a good call sounds, so training includes a sample. A volunteer calls Mrs. Alvarez, a composite resident, on the second day of the heat warning. The volunteer greets her by name and asks how she is feeling. She says she is fine but tired and that her apartment is warm because her window unit is broken. The volunteer asks how hot it feels, whether she has had water that morning and what she plans to do this afternoon. Mrs. Alvarez says she will rest in bed. The volunteer explains, in Spanish, that the heat is most dangerous in the afternoon for people over 65, especially in a warm apartment, and that the air-conditioned community room on the first floor is open until eight, with the building manager there to help. The volunteer then asks Mrs. Alvarez to say where she will go this afternoon and whom she will call if she feels dizzy. When she answers the first floor room and the nurse line, the volunteer confirms, offers to have the manager knock on her door at one o'clock, and says she will call again in the evening. The call takes about five minutes.

Training, Support and Measures

Callers will attend a ninety-minute training that covers heat illness warning signs, the call guide, teach-back practice through role play, escalation rules and how to handle difficult calls. Bilingual volunteers will make calls to residents who prefer Spanish or Vietnamese. A supervisor will be available by phone during every heat warning, and callers will meet briefly after each emergency to discuss what worked. The plan will be judged by the share of residents reached each day of a warning, the share who could state a plan in teach-back, the number of escalations and their outcomes, and residents' ratings of the calls afterward.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, July 28). Crisis & emergency risk communication (CERC). https://www.cdc.gov/cerc/php/about/index.html

Ha Dinh, T. T., Bonner, A., Clark, R., Ramsbotham, J., & Hines, S. (2016). The effectiveness of the teach-back method on adherence and self-management in health education for people with chronic disease: A systematic review. JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, 14(1), 210-247. https://doi.org/10.11124/jbisrir-2016-2296

Reynolds, B., & Seeger, M. W. (2005). Crisis and emergency risk communication as an integrative model. Journal of Health Communication, 10(1), 43-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730590904571