Grantee Research Project Results

2024 Progress Report: Participatory Design of Effective Risk Communication about Wildfire Smoke for Hard-to-Reach Populations.

EPA Grant Number: R840239
Title: Participatory Design of Effective Risk Communication about Wildfire Smoke for Hard-to-Reach Populations.
Investigators: Neuhauser, Linda , Ivey, Susan L , Su, Jason
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: September 1, 2021 through February 29, 2024 (Extended to February 28, 2025)
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2023 through August 31,2024
Project Amount: $988,740
RFA: Interventions and Communication Strategies to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposures (2021) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Wildfires

Objective:

The objective of this research is to address gaps in risk communication for hard-to-reach and atrisk populations. This objective will be accomplished by the following aims: 1) Create new, more precise modeling of CA wildfire smoke risk data; 2) Conduct needs assessment of wildfire smoke risk communication; 3) Use participatory design to develop/revise risk communications and dissemination strategies for hard-to-reach populations; and 4) Test effectiveness of new/revised risk communications and dissemination strategies. The results of Year 3 activities are expected to improve California’s risk assessment and risk management capabilities related to wildfire smoke exposure. Dissemination of these results could improve risk assessment and management capability in other US states.

Progress Summary:

Aim 1. The Health Research for Action (HRA) Center has utilized the Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) modeling framework to estimate PM_2.5 concentrations across California communities. This approach tracks theoretical particles backward in time from a specified receptor location and time, using meteorological wind fields and velocities to identify upstream influence areas (footprints) and estimate wildfire pollutant concentrations. In Year 2, HRA secured funding from Oracle to establish a cloud-based modeling platform. This enabled the development of high-resolution wildfire PM_2.5 dispersion and exposure models for vulnerable populations in California, including the Hmong community, agricultural workers in Fresno, the Yurok Tribe, and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community in Alameda County. These efforts aimed to characterize exposure levels in at-risk communities lacking access to regulatory air quality monitors. In Year 3, we refined the STILT model by calibrating it with data from government regulatory monitors, which measured wildfire smoke concentrations simultaneously with our modeled estimates. A manuscript describing the methodology and findings has been submitted to the peer-reviewed journal Atmospheric Environment, and is currently under review. This research highlights the utility of STILT and similar dispersion models in identifying high-risk populations, informing public health strategies, and guiding policy interventions to mitigate wildfire smoke–related health risks.

Aim 2. As part of the needs assessment, HRA previously completed an environmental scan of 19 key wildfire smoke communication resources developed by local, state, and federal public health organizations that are relevant for Californians. Please refer to the Year 1 and Year 2 Reports for more information on the environmental scan.

In Year 1, HRA conducted a review of peer-reviewed literature for publications on materials or programs used to reach lay audiences with messages/risk communications about wildfire smoke and identified a large gap in published literature about wildfire smoke risk communications created with and for vulnerable populations. In Year 2, HRA wrote a manuscript reporting literature review findings about communications (materials, messages, strategies, audiences). In Year 3, the manuscript was published by BMC Public Health in January 2024.

Aim 3. HRA assembled a stakeholder advisory committee (SAC) in Year 1 that continued meeting in Year 2 regarding communication needs of their respective communities related to wildfire smoke and project activities to co-develop improved communications for their communities. A partner from the Yurok Tribal Nation joined the SAC in Year 2 and advised us on needs of that tribe related to wildfire smoke exposure and recommended ways to get out information about prescribed burns/“cultural burning” to a broader audience. In Year 3, we continued to meet with stakeholders on specific project deliverables. We met with The Fresno Center to discuss the brochure-magnet materials, with Hmong Cultural Center of Butte County (HCCBC) to review the brochure-magnet materials and the wildfire smoke risk communication video with community members, and with stakeholders from Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing communities to discuss survey results and future directions.

In Years 1 and 2, HRA and design firm IDEO developed and held an in-person design thinking workshop (September 2022) to brainstorm ways to educate their respective communities about the health hazards of wildfire smoke and apply the design thinking process to generate ideas for educational materials and their dissemination. We also presented a continuing medical education (CME) workshop on health effects of wildfire smoke with a focus on cardiovascular and pulmonary impact to a statewide collaborative, the Right Care Initiative in Year 1 including pre-post knowledge surveys. In Year 2, we disseminated a video of the Year 1 CME webinar about the health impacts of wildfire smoke and ways to counsel patients to reduce their exposure to a statewide network of health professionals (physicians, pharmacists, quality improvement personnel from healthcare organizations, and public health departments).

Ideas generated during the design thinking workshop and subsequent meetings with community representatives led to the creation of several communications materials in Year 2 and Year 3. To recap, these resources included: an easy-to-read leaflet about how best to manage chronic breathing problems (including asthma) when wildfire smoke is present, a brochure in the Hmong language about checking air quality which includes a refrigerator magnet containing a QR code for the AirNow website, an animated video in the Hmong language about how to avoid wildfire smoke, and a chapter about wildfire smoke safety in the widely distributed First 5 CA Parent Guide (English/Spanish). Each of these materials has been tested by members of its intended audience to ensure their suitability and ease of use.

Beginning in Year 2 and through Year 3, we engaged in an activity not previously proposed in the project plan. Based on the priority identified by our Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing partners, we created and conducted a statewide survey with county and city offices of emergency services (OES) regarding the accessibility of emergency information about wildfire smoke. This activity was also a response to a new state law (AB 619) enacted after the start of this Project in Year 1. AB 619 requires that the California Department of Public Health develop an Air Quality Health Plan with guidance to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke and other air pollutants. The Air Quality Health Plan will be sent to each of CA’s 58 counties. The counties must then create their own air quality plans and report that information to the state. Because the state did not have needed information about the county and city-level accessibility of emergency air quality communication, we decided to fill that gap with a statewide survey of Offices of Emergency Services regarding the accessibility of their emergency communications to the public. We drafted the survey with the participation of our Deaf-and Hard-of-Hearing partners/stakeholders and relevant state officials. Undergraduate Public Health student Christina Lin also took a lead role in this work as part of her honors thesis work. Survey responses were analyzed in Year 3 and findings were shared to our Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing partners for their feedback. After incorporating their feedback, we will disseminate the results to local organizations (including those that serve Deaf/Hard of Hearing populations) and to county and state agencies. Results are also being prepared as a manuscript for a peer-reviewed publication and will be submitted for publication.

In Year 3, HRA printed 5,500 copies of the “How’s the Air” Hmong-language brochure and magnet. Five thousand of those were sent to The Fresno Center, which has been distributing them at center and community events. The remaining five hundred were sent to the HCCBC, which distributed them to community members at its center and local Hmong events. HRA also worked with the HCCBC to develop a content strategy for its Hmong-language motion graphics video, “Staying Safe from Wildfire Smoke.” HRA suggested that the HCCBC decide upon an online location for the video and use their social media channels to raise awareness of the video and wildfire issues. We also helped them optimize the video for search using search engine optimization (SEO). The video is now hosted on HCCBC’s YouTube page, and has been shared on several social media channels. The Wildfire Smoke and Chronic Breathing Problems leaflet has been distributed to a number of organizations for wider dissemination. These organizations are: statewide California Breathing, the Alameda County Public Health Department, and Carbon Health Clinics.

Aim 4. In Year 3, we began process and qualitative evaluation activities with our Hmong partners to explore distribution processes and reactions from their Hmong-speaking audiences. We also began assessing how the Alameda County Department of Public Health was using the new “Chronic Breathing Problems” leaflet with low-income families with children with uncontrolled asthma, as well as other populations. In addition, we are exploring how the CA Department of Public Health and CA Office of Emergency Services will draw on the results of our statewide survey of accessibility of emergency communications for informational and policy purposes. The above evaluative activities will continue until the end of this project on February 28, 2025. We are also currently drafting a manuscript on OES survey findings related to urban–rural county and city differences in accessible emergency communications, and we will submit the manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.

Future Activities:

Aim 1. In Year 4, we expect to have published the manuscript currently under review at the journal Atmospheric Environment. Completing the publication is a key step in disseminating our research to the broader scientific and policy communities. We will also complete and submit the final report to the EPA, which will include a comprehensive overview of project achievements in development of the STILT model, challenges addressed, and opportunities for future research and implementation.

Aim 2. Completed and manuscript published.

Aim 3. All wildfire smoke risk communication materials have been completed and disseminated to the partners we have worked with. A CME workshop was completed and disseminated to a statewide audience in July 2022. From the end of Year 3 (August 31, 2024) until the end of the Project (February 28, 2025), we will continue to explore ways to expand the dissemination of the communication materials to other relevant stakeholder groups beyond our current partners. We are in discussions with the CA Office of Emergency Services and with public health departments and other community and healthcare organizations. We will continue our work with the CA Department of Public Health to interpret and integrate the findings of our statewide survey on accessibility of emergency communication into their statewide Air Quality Health Plan, and the work of the CA Office of Emergency Services.

Aim 4. We will complete the process and qualitative evaluation of the communication materials with our Hmong partners. We will also complete our assessment of the integration of our findings about statewide accessibility of emergency communications into policy guidance for the state’s Air Quality Health Plan. In the final report, we will also summarize our “lessons learned” and provide recommendations for improvements related to developing, disseminating and evaluating risk communication materials about wildfire smoke for hard-to-reach populations.

 

Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format

Publications Views

Other project views:	All 4 publications	2 publications in selected types	All 2 journal articles

Publications

Type	Citation	Project	Document Sources
Journal Article	Vien MH, Ivey SL, Boyden H, Holm S, Neuhauser L. A scoping review of wildfire smoke risk communications:issues, gaps, and recommendations. BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):312.	R840239 (2024) R840239 (Final)	Full-text: Springer Nature - Full text HTML Exit

Supplemental Keywords:

Community-based, smoke exposure, air quality, risk management, emergency preparedness, environmental justice

Relevant Websites:

We have posted information about the project on our Health Research for Action website. See: Wildfire Smoke Communications - Health Research for Action Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2022 Progress Report

2023 Progress Report

Final Report