KU News Release

Symposium for health care professionals to address risk communications

LAWRENCE — For a health care organization, assessing health and environmental risks — and the public perceptions they generate — presents a critical need for effective communication. Similarly, nurses, physicians and other health care professionals commonly must respond to high-stress situations such as unexpected patient deaths, injuries and medical errors.

The importance of high-stress interaction will be addressed at a symposium titled “Communicating in High Risk and Low Trust Scenarios: Risk Communications for the Healthcare Professional” to be held April 30 at the Varnes Center on the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan. The symposium will explore risk communication, the emerging science-based approach for communicating effectively in high-stress situations.

Dr. Vincent T. Covello, an internationally recognized expert in risk communications, will present approaches for assessing health and environmental risks and the communication essential for personal, institutional and community integrity. Covello will show participants proven techniques to meet the communication challenges posed by public perceptions and misperceptions of health risks around high-concern, high-stress and emotionally charged issues.

Sponsored by KU HealthPartners Inc., the KU School of Nursing and KU Hospital, the symposium is part of the KU Medical Center’s Deep Discovery Series on the universal challenges faced by health care professionals who influence quality health care delivery and systems improvement.

Michael Bleich, associate dean of nursing at KU, said Covello’s appearance is a highlight of this year’s KU HealthPartners Inc., continuing education schedule.

“We are very excited to bring Dr. Covello to Kansas City for this event,” Bleich said. “His experiences and background speak for themselves, and his engaging personality will really make this a great opportunity to gain insight into an emerging field like risk communication. Today’s complex health care environment continually creates situations that have a significant potential to explode into unproductive and harmful conflicts for all stakeholders. Covello’s techniques can assist all health care personnel and administrators to more effectively manage these difficult situations.”

Covello is director of the Center for Risk Communication in New York, where he was a top consultant to former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He has held academic positions and was a senior scientist at the White House Council on Environmental Quality in addition to work with the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. He has presented workshops to more than 100 Fortune 500 companies and more than 50 government agencies in the United States and abroad.

For more information, visit the Continuing Education Web site (keyword: nursing) or call toll-free 877-404-5823.

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