PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Shilo Rea shilo@cmu.edu 412-268-6094 Carnegie Mellon University @CMUScience

PITTSBURGHThe public dialogue surrounding whether to vaccinate children is one example of how poor communication of science can cause confusion and worsen people's health and lives. Many other issues from climate change to nuclear power to using "smart" electricity grids also require accurate, understandable scientific communication so that policymakers and the general public can make informed decisions.

To mobilize best practices and stimulate research in "the science of science communication," the National Academy of Sciences has held two interdisciplinary Sackler Colloquia on the topic. Both were co-organized by Carnegie Mellon University's Baruch Fischhoff, a leader in bringing together the social, behavioral and decision sciences into this emerging area.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has published two special issues on the events. The second was published online Sept.15, with papers based on the September 2013 meeting that attracted nearly 500 scientists and communicators with more than 10,000 viewers watching the live webcast. Fischhoff co-wrote the issue's introduction and, along with CMU's Alex Davis, wrote a paper on "Communicating Scientific Uncertainty." CMU's Julie Downs authored a paper on "Prescriptive Scientific Narratives for Communicating Usable Science."

"Better communication to the public and policymakers can help scientists send clearer signals regarding accomplishments, promises and uncertainties of their work. Better communication from the public and policymakers can provide scientists with clearer signals regarding the public's concern and science's role in addressing them," said Fischhoff, the Howard Heinz University Professor of Social and Decision Sciences and Engineering and Public Policy. "The result would be a more productive dialogue about the science and the political, social and moral implications of its application."

In their paper, Fischhoff and Davis, a research scientist in engineering and public policy who received his Ph.D. from CMU in social and decision sciences, outline the challenges of explaining the uncertainty that is part of all scientific research findings. They argue that communications must address the decisions that people face. Are they looking for a signal, such as whether to evacuate before a hurricane? Are they choosing among fixed options, such as which medical treatment is best? Or, are they learning how things work, so that they can create options, such as how to regulate nanotechnology?

Fischhoff and Davis offer a communication protocol that entails identifying the facts relevant to the recipients' decisions, characterizing the relevant uncertainties, assessing their magnitude, drafting possible messages and evaluating their success.

Downs, associate researcher in social and decision sciences, describes how a narrative approach to science communication may help audiences more fully understand how science is relevant to their lives. She argues that scientific narratives can help people to reconsider long-held beliefs in the face of new findings.

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Recommendations to improve scientific decision-making

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Jesslyn Chew ChewJ@missouri.edu 573-882-8353 University of Missouri-Columbia @mizzounews

COLUMBIA, Mo. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 6 percent of children younger than five have been diagnosed with asthma, the fastest-growing and most common chronic illness affecting children in the United States. Studies have shown that asthma is associated with attention and behavioral issues in children, yet little existing research examines how socioeconomic status may influence the ultimate effects of these difficulties. Now, an MU researcher has found that the overall outcomes for children with asthma are influenced by socioeconomic inequalities.

"As with all chronic illnesses, there is a biological mechanism behind asthma, but asthmatic children's prognoses depend heavily on parental management, and successful management often relies on social circumstances," said Jen-Hao Chen, an assistant professor in the MU School of Health Professions. "My research indicated that there is a profound socioeconomic difference in these outcomes, with the poor consequences of asthma concentrated among children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds."

Chen's study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, which includes 5,750 children in the United States and documents changes in their behavioral skills during important developmental periods in early childhood. Chen looked at behavioral measures affected by asthma, including attention levels, social skills and aggressiveness, and found that although all asthmatic children are at risk for difficulties in these areas the negative consequences disappeared for children who had never experienced poverty and had highly educated parents.

"Family environment, which is affected by factors including parental stress and positive parenting behaviors, plays a huge role in the effective management of asthma," Chen said. "Poverty results in great additional strain for parents who are trying to manage an already stressful illness, often with inadequate access to resources. No matter what indicators were used to define poverty, children of lower socioeconomic status consistently performed worse than other children on behavioral development measures, and these differences already were apparent by very critical stages of early development."

Chen said that in order to help parents provide the best care for their asthmatic children, programs should offer information on positive parenting techniques and include assistance with managing parental stress and depression, which are common in individuals struggling with poverty.

"All children, those who have asthma and those who do not, live in a stratified society," Chen said. "Many interventions are designed to help manage physical asthmatic symptoms, but rarely do they address the social and behavioral consequences of asthma. To effectively prepare asthmatic children for later successes in life, existing programs also must treat the non-medical consequences of asthma through social, emotional and educational supports for families from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds."

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Long-term effects of childhood asthma influenced by socioeconomic status