Lay summary
This project will provide health authorities with practical strategies for developing and delivering key health messages for H1N1 and other health campaigns. Focus groups with pregnant women, people with chronic conditions, and Maori will inform the development of effective health messages and interventions that target vulnerable groups and accommodate community diversity. A pandemic risk communication framework developed previously by the research team will be used to: 1) investigate community responses to key health messages in the 2009 and 2010 H1N1 campaigns, the impact of messages on behavioural change and the differential impact on vulnerable groups; 2) identify characteristics of key health messages that both promote and inhibit positive public behaviours; and 3) develop strategies that health agencies can use to facilitate more effective messages that encourage protective measures for the remainder of the 2010 season and for future pandemics.