About the Conference
TELL ME, Tell You: Bridging Theory And Practice For Effective Communications During Infectious Disease Crises.
Venice, ITALY 4-5 December 2014
TELL ME about the goal of this conference
During this conference, we will present advances in the approach to risk communication and major infectious disease outbreaks. We will present new communication tools and strategies to better involve the public and healthcare providers in the communication process, to ensure that messages reach their target during all phases of the epidemic or pandemic.
TELL ME about the project objectives
TELL ME is an EU-funded project funded, headed by a consortium of a multi-disciplinary team of experts from prestigious institutions in eight countries. The TELL ME project has a strong focus on risk and outbreak communications and population behavioural responses to messages produced by health authorities in the course of a major infectious disease outbreak. An important goal of the project has been to address the challenge of low adherence to non-pharmacological protective measures by people and increasing refusal to vaccination among different segments of the population, a growing trend which could become a major challenge in future epidemics and pandemics.
TELL ME about the project’s innovative aspects
TELL ME has proposed a new participative model for risk communication, which would help public health authorities to secure optimal preparedness for infectious disease threats. This will be achieved by increasing the resilience of all communities during epidemics and pandemics. As part of the products of the TELL ME project, we created a practical guide for outbreak communication, developed an agent-based simulation model for public health officials and decision makers, and prepared an e-learning course for primary healthcare workers.
TELL ME about who should be attending this conference
The target audience for this conference are health policy makers, communications officials and representatives from public health authorities that operate at a international, European, national and local level, healthcare providers, civil servants, the pharmaceutical industry, NGOs and the media.
TELL ME about what is expected from this conference
We expect to present useful communication tools and products that will have an impact in the field of public health and the society at large. Secondly, we will demonstrate how these tools have practical value and potential for use by professionals in the field. Thirdly, we genuinely wish to create a community where knowledge from similar initiatives can be shared and unique viewpoints can be expressed, with the aim of refining our defenses against the continuing threats posed by infectious diseases at regional and international level. Last but not least, we aim to provide messages that will help inform people about the critical aspects of communication for both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions during infectious disease threats.
