Health literacy and crisis: Public relations in the 2010 egg recall

This study examines instructional messages and constraints of health literacy in communicating messages of self-protection in a crisis. Specifically, the identifiable public relations strategies of the FDA, CDC, and other prominent spokespersons were assessed and a content analysis of television coverage during the first week of the 2010 Salmonella egg recall was performed to determine the ability of the accountable agencies and organizations to communicate messages of self-protection through the media. This study contends that practitioners must take health literacy into consideration when developing messages that must first pass through media gatekeepers. Implications are provided for improving media relations in a crisis that increases health risks and expanding the scope of crisis communication research.