Digital dashboards visualizing public health data: a systematic review

IntroductionPublic health is not only threatened by diseases, pandemics, or epidemics. It is also challenged by deficits in the communication of health information. The current COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that impressively. One way to deliver scientific data such as epidemiological findings and forecasts on disease spread are dashboards. Considering the current relevance of dashboards for public risk and crisis communication, this systematic review examines the state of research on dashboards in the context of public health risks and diseases.MethodNine electronic databases where searched for peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. Included articles (n = 65) were screened and assessed by three independent reviewers. Through a methodological informed differentiation between descriptive studies and user studies, the review also assessed the quality of included user studies (n = 18) by use of the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).Results65 articles were assessed in regards to the public health issues addressed by the respective dashboards, as well as the data sources, functions and information visualizations employed by the different dashboards. Furthermore, the literature review sheds light on public health challenges and objectives and analyzes the extent to which user needs play a role in the development and evaluation of a dashboard. Overall, the literature review shows that studies that do not only describe the construction of a specific dashboard, but also evaluate its content in terms of different risk communication models or constructs (e.g., risk perception or health literacy) are comparatively rare. Furthermore, while some of the studies evaluate usability and corresponding metrics from the perspective of potential users, many of the studies are limited to a purely functionalistic evaluation of the dashboard by the respective development teams.ConclusionThe results suggest that applied research on public health intervention tools like dashboards would gain in complexity through a theory-based integration of user-specific risk information needs.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=200178, identifier: CRD42020200178

The slings and arrows of communication on nanotechnology

According to numerous surveys the perceived risk of nanotechnology is low and most people feel that the benefits outweigh the risks. This article provides greater insight into risk perception and concludes that the positive attitude to nanotechnology is based not on knowledge but on hope and fascination. The perceived risk is low because of a lack of vivid and frightening images of possible hazards. If news flashes were to link nanotechnology to concrete hazards or actual harm to people, attitudes might suddenly change. Risk communication faces the problem of dealing with a public at large that has little or no knowledge about the technology. As it takes time and extensive additional research to develop appropriate communication strategies and disseminate them to the relevant institutions, this exercise should be started immediately

The Public’s Understanding of Superfoods

The term “superfood” is linked to food that is beneficial to health. However, there is no legal or clear scientific definition, and little is known about individual perceptions of this food group. Therefore, an online survey was conducted (n = 1006 respondents) to assess the public’s understanding of superfoods in Germany, including (a) the conceptual understanding of the term “superfood”, (b) corresponding consumption behavior, and (c) the risk–benefit appraisal. In total, 70% of respondents were aware of the term “superfood”, and 33% reported consuming superfoods at least once a week. The term was mainly associated with positive food properties, such as “healthy” and “contains vitamins”. Health benefits were rated to be much higher than potential health risks. In addition, imported foods were more likely to be labelled as superfoods, compared to domestic equivalents. In further analyses, we found women, younger people, and organic buyers to have an even more positive impression. That is, specific parts of the population may be particularly attracted to superfood products. Therefore, target-group specific information campaigns can be a useful tool to increase the population’s awareness of the potential health risks of superfood consumption and to highlight the presence of equivalent “domestic superfoods” in Germany

Risikowahrnehmung und Informationsverhalten von Meinungsführenden im Lebensmittelbereich

Opinion leaders are people who can influence the opinions, attitudes or behaviours of others in their social environment. Especially in social networks on the Internet, they can also reach larger audiences and therefore represent a crucial target group for risk communication. An important prerequisite for successful risk communication is a precise knowledge of the risk perception of the relevant target group, so that this can be taken into account when developing communication measures. The present study therefore investigated the extent to which there is a connection between the risk perception of food issues and issue-specific opinion leadership. For this purpose, a representative telephone survey of the population in Germany was conducted (n = 1001). According to this, opinion leaders have a slightly higher risk perception of food risks for some topics than non-opinion leaders. They are also much more interested in these topics and access information on food issues more frequently via specific media. Opinion leaders also tend to be more active in social media. In the buzz of social media, they can thus offer valuable orientation for their social and digital environment through their special knowledge and opinions

EU Food Safety Almanac, 2nd updated and revised edition

Food safety in the EU: A guide through public structures with concise depiction of the governmental structures in 33 European countries and the European Community level