Dissemination of federal risk communication during multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks in Canada: A mixed methods analysis of communication at the provincial/territorial level

Effective risk communication by public health organizations at the provincial/territorial level (P/Ts) may limit adverse outcomes during multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks by improving access to information provided by the federal government. However, this communication pathway has not been formally assessed to inform its optimization. To address this gap, this study examined the dissemination of federal risk communication by P/Ts and described their risk communication approaches during enteric illness outbreaks in Canada. Publicly available online news releases and social media posts issued during enteric illness outbreaks by P/Ts from 2014–2023 were collated and a codebook assessing general, structural, and content features was applied to 265 communication products (157 social media posts, 108 news releases). Next, P/T organizations were surveyed on their communication processes (n = 5). Content and survey data were descriptively analyzed. On average, P/Ts were involved in 15.4 ± 10.7 multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks for which a federal Public Health Notice (PHN) was issued and disseminated information from 26.2 ± 22.6% of PHNs, primarily using X (n = 98, 47.3%). Most communication products included links (n = 114, 71.7%), but less often included audiovisuals (n = 39, 24.5%). Most P/Ts developed original communication products (60%) and used the same communication processes for single- and multi-jurisdictional outbreaks (80%). Based on the first assessment of this federal-P/T pathway, dissemination of federal risk communication products can be optimized by improving the extent of message dissemination, bolstering social media engagement, adopting multiple communication channels, and optimizing communication products according to best practices.