 chapter summary when patients are placed at risk as a result of an infection or disease outbreak in a healthcare setting a serious infection control breach or another situation that jeopardizes their health they have a right to know what happened the extent of their risk and what they need to do in chapter 8 notification communication we describe who what how why and when for the notification of patients and other stakeholders along with a detailed review of applicable risk communication principles and strategies this chapter contains information on patient stories and ethical considerations for notification notification of affected and exposed patients stakeholders such as providers and healthcare facilities and the general public both during and after an outbreak advice on managing effective communications as part of patient notification including managing differences of opinion between public health agencies and healthcare facilities pointers for engaging the media either proactively or reactively examples detailing notification procedures in outbreak situations involving a legionella in a hospital setting and b antibiotic resistant infections in a long term care facility 