Distrust of the government often stands in the way of cooperation with public health
recommendations in a crisis. The purpose of this article is to describe the public's trust in
government recommendations during the early stages of the H1N1 pandemic and to identify
factors that might account for these trust levels. The authors surveyed 1,543 respondents
about their experiences and attitudes related to H1N1 influenza between June 3, 2009, and
July 6, 2009, during the first wave of the pandemic using the Knowledge Networks online�…

With the growing recognition of the critical role that risk communication plays in a public
health emergency, a number of articles have provided prescriptive best practices to enhance
such communication. However, little empirical research has examined perceptions of the
quality of communication, the impact of uncertainty on changing communication, use of
information sources, and trust in specific government spokespersons. Similarly, although
there is significant conceptual focus on trust and communication as important in vaccination�…