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FLOODED HOMES

RISK COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE LENS OF THE SALT FRAMEWORK

Why use

the SALT

Framework?

The SALT Framework applied to the

Flooded Homes research project

enabled the team to conduct research to

understand our audience so that we

could provide assistance and guidance

that was valuable for individuals who

had experienced flooding in their homes

This research project tested social

science techniques for developing risk

communication tools















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Introduction

Hurricanes, severe storms, and flooding due
to climate change cause billions of dollars of
losses every year. After these disasters,
people want to get back into their homes
quickly to assess damages and begin to put
their lives back together. Flooded homes
contain dangers including lead, asbestos,
mold, toxic chemicals, and bacteria from the
flood water. EPA is tasked with providing
technical advice and guidance to state and
local authorities on proper risk mitigation
strategies for these indoor air hazards.

Goal:

Protect public health and support recovery in
the aftermath of flooding.

Objectives:

•	Improve audience understanding of health
risks following flooding.

•	Provide meaningful, understandable, and
actionable information that meets audience
needs, while combatting misinformation.

•	Increase feelings of control over potential
risk.

•	Empower people to take informed action.


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Risk Communication Challenge

EPA has produced in-depth technical guidance on how to safely clean, decontaminate, and
reoccupy flooded homes. However, the information is targeted for the scientific community and
cannot easily be translated and shared with households who have experienced flooding. EPA
researchers wanted to understand and test methods and practices to communicate health and
safety risks associated with indoor air hazards from flooding in a format that community
individuals preferred and recommended based on their personal experiences with flooding.

Video scripts and website language were reviewed specifically to
provide a DIY or action-oriented approach.

"Throw away items that can't be cleaned and dried"

"Keep and clean items that don't absorb water like glass, plastic...
throw away things that easily absorb water like cushions, drywall...

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Action
Oriented

Taking
Stock

The team consisted of 25 individuals from various federal, state, and
local agencies. The diversity provided insight into knowledge gaps that
EPA was missing and leveraged experience from other partners.

Example: Local County Housing Extension offices
brought up the negative impacts of misinformation during
a recent natural disaster. This led the group to change
objectives to include both providing information and
combatting misinformation.

YouTube Videos, Instagram stories, Pinterest Style DIY graphics, and
a contemporary website design are all final products based upon
Modern findings from the research.

Platforms

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Address
Emotions

The team drew on social science theories to make sure the website
shows empathy, encourages learning, and boosts self-efficacy.

Example: Prioritizing items a person can save, focusing on what they
can control, and addressing the challenges they may experience

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The team flipped EPA's traditional risk communication
strategy. Instead of telling people what to do, we asked
them what they wanted to hear.

- Dr. Keely Maxwell, EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD)


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What We Did

A team of EPA researchers created a website that contains short, how-to videos based on
technical guidance on how members of the public can safely re-enter their home, remove
contaminated materials, clean it out, and begin repairs. They can also learn more about
flooding, indoor air quality, and human health risks. The website architecture, video content,
and multiple infographics were designed based on social science research practices from
Human-Centered Design and disaster anthropology. The project also completed usability
testing with their intended audience to further refine and improve technical content.

End User Personas

Created different personas to understand the factors involved with low-
risk perception of asbestos and lead compared to mold in some
audiences.

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Example: Individuals with low risk perception for lead and
asbestos did express concerns about mold concerns, so
the website combined these hazards into one section on
environmental health risks in flood recovery versus EPA's.

Hazard
Factors

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Communicator
Factors

Meaningful Messages

Communications were reviewed by various
technical and social science experts, website
architecture designed by User Experience (UX)
designers, videos and infographics created by
specialized multi-media team.

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Guidance included images and videos to provide
greater clarity and meet a wider audience need.

Example: We created a graphic to address
renter concerns based on the information we
learned from interviews.

Audience

Factors

Action Sequence

Technical language was broken down into a step by step process to help the



1

public identify and reduce risks from flooded homes.

Example: "Check for loose power lines or gas leaks" vs. "If you smell natural
v| gas like rotten eggs, hear hissing...leave the area immediately and call your
utility company... signs of explosive levels of gas"


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Learning

The project team met on a weekly basis after conducting focus groups and interviews to reflect
on insights from the research and how to improve the products to improve the risk
communication.

Focus Groups

Focus groups brought new ideas and methods to convey
information.

Example: Added a "Know Before You Go" statement for emergency
issues (electrocution, lead, etc.) to ensure that the most important
message from the videos and infographics was brought to the front.

Interviews

Over 15 different individuals who experienced flooding shared their
stories so the team could understand what areas to focus on and
what information needed to be created to meet their needs.

Agile
Development

The team also utilized agile development which allowed for
flexibility and easier revisions to the workflow with small, continued
changes, then large-lengthy efforts. Agile development gives
projects the opportunity to pivot quickly once an issue is
determined and provides for better reflection and learning
throughout the communication development.

Tailored
Content

Research findings determined that individuals desired content
specific to their situation (renters, elderly, volunteers) even if the
information was consistent across various groups.

Example: After interviews, the team added a new section to the
website specifically tailored for resources about getting additional
assistance and how to take care of family members or friends who
were with them during the flooding experience.


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Tools

A variety of tools from social science theories were utilized in the development of the project.
Specific tools that can be used for future risk communication projects include:

Card Sorting

Card sorting is a tactic used in User Experience design to understand hierarchy of
information and content that is considered useful for the end user. The research team gave
interviewers a variety of topics to choose from and asked them which they thought would
be most important to

Card Sorting Results

Indoor Air Hazard

their health during
flood cleanup.
Surprisingly, lead
and asbestos
received the fewest
"clicks" even though
EPA considers these
hazards to pose a
greater health risk to
individuals than
mold.

Asbestos

Lead

Mold

5	10

Number of clicks on topic

15

Language Review

Expert social scientists utilized multiple theories to validate language for
the video scripts and website content.

Example: The word containment may intimidate homeowners, using
language like "separating clean spaces from damaged areas" to
encourage safety and discourage cross-contamination.

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Usability Testing

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Draft products were provided to internal and external partners to provide
insight on improvements before final deployment.

Questions asked were divided into two stages:

A base level of understanding if the information presented to the
participants seemed clear and interesting (i.e. What topics presented
here interest you? Based on the topic chosen, what information would
you expect to see associated with it?)

Understanding if the communication presented accurately covers the
needs of the end user (i.e. Based on the video provided, can you explain
how you would safely remove drywall that has lead-based paint on it?)


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