Reframing climate change as a health that is public: an exploratory study of public reactions
Reframing climate change as a health that is public: an exploratory study of public reactions
Abstract
Background
Climate change is taking a toll on human health, plus some leaders within the health that is public have urged their colleagues to give voice to its health implications. Previous studies have shown that Americans are only dimly aware of the health implications of climate change, yet the literature on issue framing suggests that providing a novel frame – such as human health – could be potentially beneficial in enhancing engagement that is public. We conducted an study that is exploratory the usa of people’s reactions to a public health-framed short essay on climate change.
Methods
U.S. adult respondents (n = 70), stratified by six previously identified audience segments, read the essay and were asked to highlight in green or pink any portions associated with the essay they found “especially helpful and clear” or alternatively “especially confusing or unhelpful.” Two dependent measures were created: a composite score that is sentence-specific on reactions to any or all 18 sentences within the essay; and respondents’ general reactions to your essay that were coded for valence (positive, neutral, or negative). We tested the hypothesis that five associated with the six audience segments would respond positively to your essay on both measures that are dependent.
Results
There is evidence that is clear two associated with the five segments responded positively to your public health essay, and mixed evidence that two other responded positively.