What is it about?
Many environmental health problems, such as pollution, contaminated water, extreme heat, or chemical exposure, can affect people's health and quality of life. However, simply giving people more facts about these risks does not always change their behavior. This publication explains how scientists and public health professionals can communicate environmental risks in ways that are easier to understand, more engaging, and more likely to motivate positive action. The authors review research on effective risk communication and describe several approaches that work well with the general public. These include using stories and real-world examples, sharing information through social media, and presenting information in ways that people can relate to their everyday lives. The paper emphasizes that communication should not be a one-way transfer of information from experts to the public. Instead, successful communication involves understanding people's concerns, values, and experiences and providing practical actions they can take to reduce risks. The publication also discusses challenges such as scientific uncertainty, complicated environmental issues, and varying levels of health and science literacy among audiences. The authors conclude that environmental health communication is most effective when it is clear, honest, relevant, engaging, and focused on helping people make informed decisions. Ultimately, the authors provide guidance for improving how environmental health information is shared so that communities are better prepared to protect themselves and respond to environmental risks
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Why is it important?
As environmental and public health challenges become more complex, effective communication is increasingly important for turning scientific knowledge into meaningful action. This paper provides practical, research-based strategies for helping people understand environmental risks, make informed decisions, and adopt behaviors that protect health and well-being. Its focus on storytelling, audience engagement, social media, and science-based communication makes it valuable reading for researchers, communicators, educators, public health professionals, and decision-makers seeking to improve the real-world impact of science.
Perspectives
This work addresses a critical challenge facing environmental and public health professionals: how to communicate risks in ways that people will actually understand, trust, and act on. The paper argues that simply providing more scientific facts is often insufficient to change beliefs or behaviors, an idea known as the limitations of the "knowledge deficit" model of communication. Instead, effective communication must be engaging, relevant, and tailored to the needs and concerns of the audience. The publication is important because risk communication is often the final and most visible step connecting scientific research to public action. Even the best science has limited impact if people cannot understand the information or do not know what actions to take. The paper focuses on practical approaches for helping communities make informed decisions about environmental and health risks. Several features distinguish this publication from many traditional science communication papers: It focuses specifically on environmental health risk communication, where uncertainty, complex science, and public concerns often intersect. It highlights three practical communication approaches: virtual exemplars, narrative storytelling, and social media, emphasizing their ability to make environmental health information more engaging and relatable. It moves beyond one-way communication and emphasizes dialogue, audience engagement, and meaningful communication that considers social, cultural, and institutional factors. It connects communication strategies to the U.S. EPA's SALT Framework, providing a research-based foundation for improving public understanding and action. It emphasizes that risk communication should empower people by giving them practical actions they can take, rather than simply presenting information about threats.
Dr. John M Johnston
Environmental Protection Agency
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effective Strategies for Environmental Health Risk Communication, Sustainability, December 2025, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/su18010076.
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