Risk Literacy

Public understanding of risk

These projects explore what people know or understand about everyday risks, for instance, symptoms of disease or the magnitude of different risks.

Ongoing projects

How well do people estimate everyday risks: Representative survey of six European countries. With Felix Rebitshek, Stefan Herzog, & Mirjam Jenny. (manuscript in preparation).

How do Investment Professionals Understand Risk? With Kavitha Ranganathan, Vidhu Shekhar, & Madhu Veeraraghavan at the T.A. Pai Management Institute, India. (in preparation).

Related Publications

Luan, S., Yang, Y., Huang, Y., & McDowell, M. (2021). Public knowledge of stroke and heart attack symptoms in China: A cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open, 11:e043220. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043220
PDF doi bibtex

 @article{luan2021,
  title = {Public Knowledge of Stroke and Heart Attack Symptoms in {{China}}: A Cross-Sectional Survey},
  author = {Luan, Shenghua and Yang, Yujia and Huang, Yuqi and McDowell, Michelle},
  date = {2021},
  journaltitle = {BMJ Open},
  volume = {11},
  pages = {e043220},
  doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043220},
  number = {1}
} 

McDowell, M, & Pachur, T. (2020). Availability, Affect, and Decisions to Seek Information About Cancer Risks: A Brief Report. Medical Decision Making, 40(8), 941-945. doi:10.1177/0272989X20951775
PDF doi bibtex

 @article{mcdowell2020,
  title = {Availability, Affect, and Decisions to Seek Information about Cancer Risks},
  author = {McDowell, Michelle and Pachur, Thorsten},
  date = {2020},
  journaltitle = {Medical Decision Making},
  shortjournal = {Med Decis Making},
  volume = {40},
  pages = {941--945},
  publisher = {{SAGE Publications Inc STM}},
  doi = {10.1177/0272989X20951775},
  number = {8}
} 

Taylor, BJ, Stevenson, M, & McDowell, M (2018). Communicating risk in dementia care: Survey of health and social care professionals. Health & Social Care in the Community, 26, e291-e303. doi:10.1111/hsc.12519
PDF doi bibtex

 @article{taylor2018,
  title = {Communicating Risk in Dementia Care: {{Survey}} of Health and Social Care Professionals},
  shorttitle = {Communicating Risk in Dementia Care},
  author = {Taylor, Brian J. and Stevenson, Mabel and McDowell, Michelle},
  date = {2018},
  journaltitle = {Health \& Social Care in the Community},
  volume = {26},
  pages = {e291-e303},
  doi = {10.1111/hsc.12519},
  number = {2}
}