Since December in 2019, a new coronavirus called COVID-19 has spread in China. In the global pattern of a risk society, this epidemic has attracted worldwide attention, which has been identified by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
The middle-aged and elderly people are easily divided into the epidemic-prone group for their lower immunity. In the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), they have a higher proportion of critically ill patients. However, the middle-aged and elderly people didn't realize or even believe the harm of the coronavirus at first. With the joint efforts of the government, the media, and relatives, they gradually changed their attitude and behavior. This phenomenon has attracted the researcher's concern.
To study the factors that affect the science and risk transmission during the health communication process of major public health events, the middle-aged and elderly people over 45 years old (according to the World Health Organization’s definition) in Hefei, China were chosen as the research object. Compared to extensive studies that mainly discuss the use of media, which are lack of in-depth investigation of the audience itself especially the middle-aged and elderly people, this research focuses on the influence of the self-health perception, health knowledge and family factor. It is noted that Hefei is an ideal sampling point based on its geographical, demographic and social characteristics associated with the epidemic.
In the study, the quota sampling method is used to distribute and collect questionnaires in Hefei. The Scientific and Risk Communication effects identified by self-made scales are chosen as dependent variables. Media Use, Family Factor, Self-health Perception, and Health Information Concern are the four main independent variables at the audience level. The controlled variables include gender, age, living status, education level, income, and occupation, etc. Data processing is based on the correlation analysis method, multiple regression approach and principle component analysis through SPSS21.0.
The present work focuses on the spread of the epidemic risk and the predominant factors affecting the risk perception of the old and elderly people. Based on stepwise regression analysis, it is found that the Risk Communication has a strong correlation with Media use and Family Factor, which can be attributed to the significant increases in media coverage about the epidemic and the family reunion after the Chinese New Year (January 24, 2020). Moreover, the medium effect can be unified to five characteristic factors through principle component analysis. Furthermore, the relationship between the self-health concern and the media use is also identified. The research is of great significance in developing the theory of health communication at the psychological level of the audience and guiding middle-aged and elderly people to cope with the risk communication, especially major health emergencies.
Keywords: Health Communication, Middle-aged and Elderly, Risk Perception; Report on Public Health Events