Health Affairs

Health Affairs, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.4.w743 (Published online July 7, 2009) © 2009 by Project HOPE	New Online   Getting Health Reform Done   After the State of the Union   Incremental Reform   E-Health in Developing World   Most-Read Articles in 2009

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How Well Did Health Departments Communicate About Risk At The Start Of The Swine Flu Epidemic In 2009?

Jeanne S. Ringel ¹, Elizabeth Trentacost ², Nicole Lurie ^3*

¹ Jeanne Ringel is a senior economist with RAND in Santa Monica, California.
² Elizabeth Trentacost is an administrative assistant at RAND in Arlington, Virginia.
³ Nicole Lurie is senior natural scientist and the Paul O'Neill Alcoa Professor at RAND in Arlington.

^*Corresponding author.

Abstract

On Sunday, 26 April 2009, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in response to the outbreak of H1N1 influenza (known as swine flu) in the United States. Through an analysis of state and local health department Web sites, we determined whether departments were able to provide online information to their constituents within twenty-four hours of the declaration. The overwhelming majority of state health departments, and more than half of health departments participating in the Cities Readiness Initiative--but only a quarter of smaller, local health departments--were successful in doing so. [Health Affairs 28, no. 4 (2009): w743-w750 (published online 7 July 2009; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.4.w743)]

Key Words: Consumer Issues, Health Promotion/Disease Prevention, Public Health

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