The goal of this study is to determine issues rural Appalachian residents consider most important, their perceived environmental health risk, and how community engagement can potentially improve those issues. The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center held the Appalachian Community Health and Well-being Forum at the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Office in Eastern Kentucky. A four-member panel consisted of two local health officials, a nutrition expert, and a federal scientist; answered questions from community members. The expert panel and audience members shared concerns, success stories, and highlighted efforts to promote health in the region. Community members completed a questionnaire collecting information on perceived environmental health risk, fruit and vegetable intake, and basic demographic information. The concerns raised by community members were chronic disease, poverty, pollution, mental health, and wellness. Proposed solutions were compliance, nutrition, physical activity, education, empathy, funding, community engagement, awareness, holistic health, prevention, and insurance/policy change. The programs in place to combat these issues are FARMACY, Community Health Workers, transportation services, mobile dental vans, Kentucky River Watershed Watch, research, policy changes, and the CLIK program. The questionnaire showed that residents are aware of the types of pollution in their community and believe that illness is caused by pollution in their environment. Community residents feel that pollution is not something they should have to live with, they act to protect themselves from pollution, and likely to engage in community efforts to stop pollution in their community.

Background. CRC risk can be reduced though lifestyle modification and regular screenings. Providing CRC risk feedback that promotes preventive behaviors to those at average risk has the potential to significantly reduce CRC morbidity and mortality. Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the impact of CRC risk assessment feedback among adults aged 50-75 with no personal or family history of the disease. The specific aims were to: (1a) test personalized (vs. generic) risk assessment feedback on individuals’ risk perceptions and intentions to engage in three risk-reducing behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet, and screening); (1b) determine if the provision of CRC risk information influences breast cancer risk perceptions and mammography intentions; (2a) examine individuals’ accuracy of perceived lifetime risk of CRC; (2b) assess whether improved accuracy following risk assessment was associated with changes in behavioral intentions; and finally, (3) evaluate the use of a unique sampling procedure designed to increase diversity of survey respondents. Methods. A pre-post parallel, two arm randomized controlled trial examined the effects of providing CRC risk assessment feedback that included lifetime risk estimates and information about CRC risk factors that was either personalized (treatment) or generic (control). N=419 average risk adults between the ages of 50-75 were recruited from a commercial online panel. Results. There were no differences in risk perception between study arms. Overall participants, perceived lifetime risk of CRC lowered at post-test and seemingly produced a spillover effect in lowered perceived lifetime risk of breast cancer among females. CRC screening intentions increased in both study arms and mammography intentions increased in the control arm. Accuracy of lifetime risk improved at post-test, but was not associated with changes in intentions to perform risk reducing behaviors. Quota sampling acquired a targeted and diverse sample quickly and efficiently. Conclusion. Communicating CRC risk information to average risk adults can improve CRC risk perception accuracy and enhance colorectal and mammography screening intentions. Risk assessment feedback did not consistently influence intentions to improve diet and physical activity.

All-hazards pandemic planning is the foundation of current emergency management planning doctrine, yet there is limited information and limited studies related to its effectiveness in mitigating pandemics. The North Texas emergency management community handles incidents of West Nile Virus, H1N1 influenza, and a recent Ebola incident. Despite efforts to mitigate these threats, reported cases and deaths are still occurring from both influenza and West Nile virus. The purpose of this case study was to assess the risk perceptions of emergency planners in a small emergency operation center in North Texas using the cultural theory of risk perception as the theoretical framework. The raw data for this study originated from qualitative semi structured interviews with five emergency managers. By way of qualitative hand coding and thematic extraction, four primary themes emerged from the data: (a) political/organizational climate, (b) emergency response, (c) training and experience, and (d) communication. Additionally, all themes yielded relevant subthemes. The all-hazards approach to pandemic planning was effective as long as planners swiftly adjusted or adapted their plan for individual emergency events. The emergency management community still struggles with ineffective communication, negative political influences, poor coordination, and training shortfalls. Lack of trust in the levels of government emerged as a potential underlying cause to many of the issues. These findings may promote positive social change by assisting emergency management planners in assessing communications, coordination, training, appropriate use of personnel, and to identify areas where lack of trust between community partners may be affecting the overall response effort.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 166 p. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>More than 1 billion people in developing countries lack access to safe water and sanitation. Drinking water in these countries is often collected from unsafe sources outside the home. Even piped well water in the developing world can be unsafe due to inadequately maintained pipes, low pressure, intermittent delivery, lack of chlorination, and clandestine connections. Furthermore, drinking water often becomes contaminated after collection, either during transport or during storage in the home. Improvements in water supply, hygiene education and safe storage can reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, such as diarrhoea. However it is not an easy task to combat unsafe drinking water, and several factors have to be taken into account. Correct management of water at the household level is a vital factor in reducing contamination of water in areas where water is not available in the home, and often has to be transported for long distances before storage.</p><p>It is often a woman's responsibility to collect and store water. The aim of this study is to provide an understanding of women’s knowledge and perceptions of the risks associated with drinking water and waterborne diseases in Babati, Tanzania. Furthermore, the study sets out to investigate the methods utilized at the household-level to prevent waterborne diseases. Interviews were the key method to collecting primary data and the results present findings from 20 women in two villages in Babati. All of the respondents had access to community water pipes but none had taps in their household. Among the respondents who treated their water, the most common method of treatment was boiling. The study shows that there is a link between lived experience, perceptions of risk, and the way water is managed in the household.</p>

<p>Riskhantering inom rese- och turismnäringen där resenärens uppfattning ligger till grund för dennes köpbeslutsprocess har fått begränsat med uppmärksamhet på den akademiska arenan.</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> denna uppsats syftar till att studera vilka riskuppfattningar som en potentiell resenär associerar med den urbana miljön, samt hur detta fungerar som inverkansfaktor på resenärens konsumentbeteende i valet av staden som destination. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Teoretiskt ramverk:</strong> en litteraturgenomgång och ett teoretiskt ramverk visar på vad som utgör det så kallade risksamhället, betydelsen av riskkategorisering diskuteras samt hur kopplingen mellan resenärens riskuppfattning och dennes köpbeslutsprocess ser ut.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> för att uppnå syftet har problemet angripits med ett abduktivt arbetssätt. En kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metodik har applicerats. I enkätundersökningen deltog 224 inkommande resenärer till Stockholm, vilket har bearbetats statistiskt med Pearsons Chi2-test för att undersöka graden av riskuppfattning beroende på socio-demografiska faktorer. Dessutom genomfördes nio samtalsintervjuer som ledde till en tematiserad sammanställning.</p><p><strong>Empiri:</strong> genom enkätformuläret observerades att psykologiska riskuppfattningar var mest framträdande, och i samtalsintervjuerna noterades hur riskuppfattningen påverkar konsumentbeteendet.</p><p><strong>R</strong><strong>esultat:</strong> slutsatserna som har dragits är att 1) korrelation föreligger mellan socio-demografiska faktorer och riskuppfattning, 2) stadens livsrytm fungerar som inverkansfaktor, och att 3) uppfattningen om risker präglas av subjektivitet.</p> / <p>Risk management within the travel- and tourism industry has been undeservingly neglected as a field of study in the academia.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> this thesis aims to study different types of risk perceptions that a potential traveller associates with urban areas, and how this perception influences the consumer behaviour in the decision-making process.</p><p><strong>Theoretical framework:</strong> the literature review seeks to explain what constitutes a risk society, the significance of categorizing risk perceptions is outlined, and the connection between traveller´s perception of risks and its decision-making. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Methodology:</strong> to achieve the purpose of this study, the writers have used an abductive approach, where a quantitative and a qualitative methodology have been applied. 224 incoming travellers to Stockholm participated in the survey. The outcome was then statistically processed using Pearson´s chi-square test in order to measure the risk perceptions based on socio-demographical aspects. In addition, nine interviews were conducted.</p><p><strong>Empirical data:</strong> in the survey it was noted that psychological risk perceptions were most noticeable, and in the interviews it was found in what form risk perceptions affect traveller´s consumer behaviour.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>the found conclusions are that 1) traveller´s perception of risks correlates with socio-demographical factors, 2) a city´s pace of life functions as an influential factor on the consumer behaviour, and that 3) the perceptions of risks are primarily characterized by their subjectivity.</p>

Riskhantering inom rese- och turismnäringen där resenärens uppfattning ligger till grund för dennes köpbeslutsprocess har fått begränsat med uppmärksamhet på den akademiska arenan. Syfte: denna uppsats syftar till att studera vilka riskuppfattningar som en potentiell resenär associerar med den urbana miljön, samt hur detta fungerar som inverkansfaktor på resenärens konsumentbeteende i valet av staden som destination. Teoretiskt ramverk: en litteraturgenomgång och ett teoretiskt ramverk visar på vad som utgör det så kallade risksamhället, betydelsen av riskkategorisering diskuteras samt hur kopplingen mellan resenärens riskuppfattning och dennes köpbeslutsprocess ser ut. Metod: för att uppnå syftet har problemet angripits med ett abduktivt arbetssätt. En kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metodik har applicerats. I enkätundersökningen deltog 224 inkommande resenärer till Stockholm, vilket har bearbetats statistiskt med Pearsons Chi2-test för att undersöka graden av riskuppfattning beroende på socio-demografiska faktorer. Dessutom genomfördes nio samtalsintervjuer som ledde till en tematiserad sammanställning. Empiri: genom enkätformuläret observerades att psykologiska riskuppfattningar var mest framträdande, och i samtalsintervjuerna noterades hur riskuppfattningen påverkar konsumentbeteendet. Resultat: slutsatserna som har dragits är att 1) korrelation föreligger mellan socio-demografiska faktorer och riskuppfattning, 2) stadens livsrytm fungerar som inverkansfaktor, och att 3) uppfattningen om risker präglas av subjektivitet. / Risk management within the travel- and tourism industry has been undeservingly neglected as a field of study in the academia. Purpose: this thesis aims to study different types of risk perceptions that a potential traveller associates with urban areas, and how this perception influences the consumer behaviour in the decision-making process. Theoretical framework: the literature review seeks to explain what constitutes a risk society, the significance of categorizing risk perceptions is outlined, and the connection between traveller´s perception of risks and its decision-making. Methodology: to achieve the purpose of this study, the writers have used an abductive approach, where a quantitative and a qualitative methodology have been applied. 224 incoming travellers to Stockholm participated in the survey. The outcome was then statistically processed using Pearson´s chi-square test in order to measure the risk perceptions based on socio-demographical aspects. In addition, nine interviews were conducted. Empirical data: in the survey it was noted that psychological risk perceptions were most noticeable, and in the interviews it was found in what form risk perceptions affect traveller´s consumer behaviour. Findings: the found conclusions are that 1) traveller´s perception of risks correlates with socio-demographical factors, 2) a city´s pace of life functions as an influential factor on the consumer behaviour, and that 3) the perceptions of risks are primarily characterized by their subjectivity.

Effective risk communication is essential in the field of health to ensure patients understand the information being presented to them by medical professionals and appreciate the level of risk involved in treatments. Cardiovascular disease, being the leading cause of death worldwide, is relevant to consider when examining risk communication in a health setting. Those afflicted with cardiovascular ailments are both high in number and exposed to information communicating risk. This research aims to identify presentation formats that are more effective communicating risk information to recovering cardiovascular patients at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. The formats’ effectiveness is measured by gauging the population’s understanding of the material and perception of the information as it relates to risk and motivation. The research draws on Max Weber’s concept of rationality and subsequent scholars who developed social judgment theory, the heuristic-systematic model, expected utility theory, protection motivation theory, and the extended parallel process model. Utilizing an experimental research design, risk information handouts and questionnaires are distributed to, and completed by, a stratified sample of cardiovascular disease patients. Effective presentation formats are examined, and the results identify comparatively effective presentation formats for minimizing and maximizing risk perception. The results also identify presentation formats’ impact on a patient’s level of motivation to avoid / indulge in behaviours that may maximize or minimize risk. The results, synthesized herein, suggest a model (communicative cardiovascular physician-patient model of message preparation-perception), which may contribute to the effectiveness of risk communication between physicians and cardiovascular disease patients.

Participatory action research (PAR) oriented by an eco-system health framework is one approach to involving marginalised peoples in their own problem solving. A PAR project during 2005-06 that engaged peri-urban farmers in Senegal using popular education documented change on environment and health perceptions and behaviour. Health as a theme took on greater importance, as farmers related good health to their ability to work and their overall productivity. Farmers came to better recognize the symptoms of pesticide poisoning and to establish more clearly the link between pesticide-related work practices and health effects. Less clear remained their recognition of symptoms and links with wastewater use practices, though malaria and parasitic infection were linked to urban agriculture. African worldviews, including notions of locus of power, were important determinants of perceived vulnerability to risks. Farmers cited fatigue as an important clue to the work-health interface and indicator of overall wellbeing. Farmers’ understanding evolved to become more dynamic, describing the complex web of environmentally-related health risk. By 2006, farmers experimented more with less toxic pest control methods, adjusted their clothing to protect their skin and mouth, and reduced some exposure pathways through improved hygiene behaviour. However, toxic pesticides continued to be used and exposure to wastewater with limited protection remained widespread. Change was dependent upon: the researcher’s deep understanding of how farmers learned; farmers’ trust in the purveyors of new information; and the clarity, consistency and relevance of messages devised. Change varied with farmers’ literacy; the language used; and the way in which tools and media were interpreted culturally and technically. The health belief model provided a partial explanation for changes in perceptions and behaviour. Social, political and economic barriers preventing change included: leaving the onus for change on farmers, diminishing the responsibility of pesticide manufacturers and governments; land tenure arrangements which reduced investment in health and environment protection; urban poverty and illiteracy; and eco-system constraints. Examination of the PAR process, its leadership, owners, tools and ideas developed, and knowledge created provided useful insight into issues of power and control.

Stålindustrin förser såväl människor som samhället med många nödvändiga byggstenar. I Sverige finns tolv ståltillverkande anläggningar och hela 80 % av stålet exporteras. Som alla andra tillverkande industrier har den flera miljöaspekter att ta hänsyn till, men stålets nytta väger tungt och därför är det av stor vikt att genom forskningsprojektet Stålkretsloppet nå hållbar utveckling. Miljöskyddslagen, miljöbalken och ett ökande miljöengagemang har lett till arbete med miljöfrågor. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka hur allmänhetens riskperception, attityd och oro gentemot stålindustrin ser ut. Skiljer sig kunskapen och intresset beroende på olika bakgrundsvariabler så som ålder, kön, sysselsättning, om kommunen har stålindustri eller inte, etc. Enkäten skickades till 1000 personer fördelade över fyra kommuner; två med stålverk, Luleå och Smedjebacken kommun, och två utan, Kalmar och Tingsryds kommun. Enkätundersökningens svarsfrekvens hamnade slutligen på omkring 43 %. Resultaten visade att de största skillnader finns mellan kommunerna. Respondenter med fram för allt arbetsrelaterad koppling till stålindustri är de som instämmer mest i de olika påståendena. Giftiga ämnen är det som oroar mest. Slutsatser som drogs var att skillnader mellan kommunerna med stålverk och kommunerna utan stålverk är tydligast. Kunskapen om stålindustrin är tämligen liten och allmänheten önskar mer information, inte minst om miljöarbetet. / The steel industry and its production are fundamental to our society and the modern way of life. There are twelve steel manufacturing facilities in Sweden, exporting as much as 80 % of the produced steel. Like all other manufacturing industries it is giving rise to environmental aspects, but steel’s advantage weighs heavily and it is therefore of great importance through the research programme the Steel Eco-Cycle (Stålkretsloppet) to achieve sustainable development. The purpose of this study was to examine what the general public’s risk perception, attitude and worry towards steel industry looks like. Are there any variations in knowledge and interest based on different background variables such as age, gender, employment, if the municipality has manufacturing or not, etc. The survey was sent to 1000 people spread in four municipalities, two having steel industry and two not having. The answering rate of the survey finally ended at 43 %. The results showed that the biggest differences are to find between the different municipalities. Respondents with a work related connection to the steel industry seems to agree more on the different allegations. The respondents are mainly worried about toxic substances. The most striking conclusion was that the biggest differences lay between the municipalities with steel industry and the ones without it. The knowledge about the industry is however relatively small and the respondents are therefore asking for more information, not least about the work with environmental aspects.