Search

Due to the significant improvement of disaster-related information, further reduction of disaster risks re-quires not only governments to provide more scientifically accurate information but also the public to take appropriate action at the correct times. Meanwhile, there is ongoing work to integrate social media into Early Warning Systems (EWSs), but the ecology of social media information during crises remains poorly understood. This study seeks to understand public responses on social media to EWSs using the case of a 2015 typhoon (the Kanto-Tohoku Heavy Rain) in Japan. Using a corpus of 35 million tweets, computational methods such as topic modelling, and geospatial analysis we find that: 1) emergency warnings are likely to have people be more attentive to the warnings but this does not translate to an increased discussion of actions such as evacuation; 2) the expected shift of public attention (from awareness to preparation and then action) seems to happen on social media. Overall, we show that analysis of social media data can compliment tra-ditional survey-based approaches to understand how the public respond to information from Early Warning Systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study focused on influenza vaccination avoidant 18-49-year-old adults. • Experiment examined whether supplemental flu vaccine education materials helped. • Immersive VR showed promise when it generated a sense of presence. • Presence was associated with positive outcomes on beliefs and intentions. • VR holds promise for communicating key immunization concepts. Only one-third of adults 18–49 years old in the United States receive a recommended annual influenza vaccination. This study examined whether supplementing vaccine information statements (VIS) with an immersive virtual reality (VR), short video or electronic pamphlet story designed to convey the community immunity benefits of influenza vaccination would improve influenza vaccine avoidant participants' influenza-related perceptions as well as their influenza vaccination-related beliefs, confidence and intentions. A one-way between-subjects experimental design compared the effects of adding a supplemental education experience prior to VIS exposure with flu vaccine avoidant 18-to-49-year-olds. The 171 participants recruited from the community were randomly assigned to one of three modality treatment conditions [VR, video, or e-pamphlet (i.e., story board presented via electronic tablet)] or a VIS-only control condition. Compared to the modalities, the VR intervention created a stronger perception of presence (i.e., feeling of "being there" in the story), which, in turn, increased participants' concern about transmitting influenza to others and raised vaccination intention. Increased concern about transmitting influenza to others was associated with positive effects on influenza vaccination-related beliefs, including confidence that one's flu vaccination would protect others. Neither the e-pamphlet nor the video intervention were able to elicit a sense of presence nor were they able to improve the impact of the VIS on the outcome measures. Immersive VR has much potential to increase understanding of key immunization concepts, such as community immunity, through creative executions that increase a sense of presence. Given the need to increase influenza vaccination uptake among 18-to-49-year-olds, and the projected growth in VR accessibility and use, additional applications and assessments related to vaccination communication and education are needed and warranted. By increasing the ability to convey key vaccine and immunization concepts, immersive VR could help address vaccination hesitancy and acceptance challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]