The negative impacts of natural hazards can be lessened by community members responding appropriately to emergency warning messages during disasters. This research adopts a multi-hazard approach to examine the effectiveness of response and recovery communication in communities affected by natural hazards.
There are three Hazard Notes summarising this research:
This Hazard Note (Hazard Note 79) draws on a psychosocial framework of information processing to explore how emergency warning messages are comprehended by community members. Researchers conducted several case studies across Australia in 2015 and identified 10 opportunities for emergency services agencies to improve information processing by adjusting their warning messages, such as simplifying language and removing barriers to information.
Hazard Note 80 expands on this knowledge, detailing which types of specific messages encourage community readiness.
Hazard Note 81 explores whether colours and icons help to encourage action during emergencies.