This qualitative study was designed to explore the experience of risk factor modification from the perspective of patients who had sustained an acute myocardial infarction. Research has shown that modification of coronary risk factors including stopping smoking, reducing hypercholesterolemia and obesity, reducing hypertension, developing a habit of regular exercise, and developing methods to modify the coronary-prone behavior pattern reduces morbidity and mortality due to coronary heart disease. The literature reviewed indicated that cardiac rehabilitation programs are generally structured to provide the patient with information on coronary artery disease. However, it has been shown that information alone may not be enough to ensure that changes in behavior occur. Since there was a scarcity of information on measures to assist patients to modify their coronary risk factors, and as the literature indicated that the experience of risk factor modification had not been explored from patients' perspectives, a phenomenological design was therefore selected as the methodology for this study. Data were collected through twelve in-depth interviews with six participants. A guide of semi-structured questions was used for the initial interview and additional questions were generated from the data themselves. The constant comparative method of data analysis enabled the researcher to construct an analytic framework which represented patients' perceptions of their experiences in risk factor modification. In this framework, the central theme of patients' experiences was gaining mastery over their risk behavior(s). Gaining mastery occurred in three phases: searching for attribution, acknowledging risk, and attaining control. In attaining control, various cognitive and behavioral strategies were identified which led to a delineation of measures that could be provided to assist other patients in modifying their coronary risk factors. The findings demonstrated that a unique perspective of risk factor modification has been provided by patients based on their own experiences. It was also shown that intervention, consisting of teaching, counseling, and support, is essential to each phase of this process. The implications of this study focus on the importance of intervention in both in-hospital and out-patient cardiac rehabilitation programs. Intervention to assist patients to develop and use those skills that will enable them to gain a sense of mastery over their risk behaviors is essential if an initial or recurrent myocardial infarction is to be prevented. Implications for nursing practice, education, and research are outlined in light of the research findings. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / This mini-dissertation provides an overview of enterprise risk management and its components, while focusing on risk analysis and risk models. Since all entities face uncertainty with respect to the aspects that they interact with, enterprise risk management aims to maximize value to stakeholders. One of the tools used in the risk assessment component of enterprise risk management is a quantitative assessment technique called risk modelling. Risk modelling allows various risks to be evaluated by observing their effects on simulation outputs. Decision making under uncertainty has become heavily reliant on risk models, resulting in more complex models being formulated and utilized. As such, the risks associated with the modelling of risks are becoming increasingly more pervasive in risk management and whose effects are just as severe (if not more so, due to their lack of awareness). A more in depth examination of model risk is performed and discussed in order to highlight its lack of awareness, extent and implications, and theoretical limits in risk modelling. Using this background information, the analysis of models used in literature for pricing in telecommunications wireless mesh networks is conducted in order to evaluate their model risks. This analysis shows that very few publications acknowledge the shortcomings of their models, let alone evaluate or discuss them in any way. Further, this analysis shows that some of the models and their assumptions produce pointless results. A simple investigation of the risks associated with their models would have produced results that are more conclusive and substantiatable, and with less flaws. Although the model risk analysis has been performed on models that simulate certain billing aspects of telecommunication wireless mesh networks, the model risk a alysiscan just as easily be performed on any other models or risk models. The aim of this mini-dissertation is to provide an overview of model risk and its impact, and also highlight the importance of including the management of model risk in the enterprise risk management process.

As flood risk rises in the U.S., technology and insights rise too, but even with these advances we still see the consequences of flood risk. Together, the rational actor paradigm (“RAP”), psychometrics, and cultural theory help to explain risk perceptions and behaviors of 20 respondents. Results from the mixed-methods approach found the RAP insufficient, less accurate than a coin toss (48%), when explaining respondent behaviors. Rather, risk perceptions and behaviors of the RAP explain the behaviors of lower risk portrayal groups (66%) and higher income groups (80%), with higher risk portrayals being relying on respondents’ trust in flood experts (45%) and cultural worldviews (55%). Cultural identities explain 65% of respondents’ behaviors across levels of risk portrayal (500-, 100-, and 25-year floodplain), and risk portrayal types (cumulative and AAL). In a world with increased risk, technology, and knowledge, researchers need understand the explanatory power of the RAP, psychometrics, and cultural theory. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

This paper identifies social conditions that shape perceptions of risk to environmental toxins among residents in the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. Demographic information from a randomly selected sample of 2,548 residents was used to explore the concept of the "White male effect" as discussed in previous literature, which has found that white males are particularly risk accepting compared to all other race and gender groups. This analysis also evaluated the influence of trust in government and beliefs about environmental justice on perceived exposure and compared responses from residents within and outside the City of New Orleans to determine whether there is evidence of location-specific differences. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed strong support for the combined race and gender effects proposed by previous literature. Additionally, hypotheses regarding the influence of trust in government and belief in environmental injustice were supported. Suggestions for future research and policy implications are discussed.

Research has shown the color used to represent threat information can influence perceived risk and how individuals respond to watches and warnings. However, there is no standardized color scheme for hazardous weather products across the weather enterprise. This study’s objective was to determine if color inconsistencies have an effect on a product’s intended risk perception utilizing two public surveys. Results suggest color inconsistencies when representing hazardous weather products have a detrimental effect on that product’s intended message. The first survey found people use color to help determine risk and rely on whether a filled or outlined polygon is displayed. The second survey found the term “warning” is perceived to have more risk than the term “watch” for all hazardous weather types tested. The results from both surveys suggest a national, uniform color scale based on risk should be implemented across all weather enterprise agencies.

Cancer clusters constitute geographical areas where the frequency of cancer diagnoses during a given period of time occur more frequently than expected by chance. Cancer clusters can impact perceptions of risk and generate significant anxiety in communities. Unfortunately, cluster investigations rarely yield the answers citizens seek around a definitive cause of cancer due to the long latency of cancer and other factors. As a result, health officials may appear to be withholding information and not doing enough to address public concerns. Effective cancer risk communication may also be hindered by other stakeholders such as the media, who sometimes sensationalize risks from environmental hazards, which can distort the public’s perceptions of risks. The result may be a community dissatisfied with a cluster investigation’s results, or worse, a community that distrusts local leaders and doesn’t understand the information reported by expert officials. The four studies comprising this dissertation aimed to summarize key issues with the communication of and investigation of cancer clusters in Canada; test the impact of different types of cancer information on risk perceptions; and explore whether individual characteristics and skills were linked to positive attitudes about coping with cancer risks. An analysis of cancer news coverage and interviews with Canadian public health officials revealed that communities may be receiving inadequate and inconsistent information about cancer risks during cluster investigations. In addition, an experiment and survey revealed information trustworthiness and individuals’ numeracy and health literacy to be important factors shaping cancer risk perceptions and attitudes. This work has significant implications for risk communicators and educators seeking improved methodologies of cancer risk communication and risk education to (1) manage differences in cancer risk perceptions between experts and non-experts (2) enhance public trust in institutions and perceptions of expert competence and (3) inform future educational interventions that promote cancer coping beliefs. / Dissertation / Doctor of Science (PhD) / Cancer clusters constitute geographical areas where the frequency of cancer diagnoses during a given period of time occur more frequently than expected by chance. Cancer clusters can generate significant anxiety in communities and influence perceptions of personal safety and health. As cluster investigations rarely yield the answers citizens seek around a definitive cause of cancer, health officials may appear to be withholding information and not doing enough to address public concerns. The objectives of this dissertation were to summarize key issues with the communication of and investigation of cancer clusters in Canada; test the impact of different types of cancer information on risk perceptions; and explore whether individual characteristics, expertise and skills were linked to positive attitudes about coping with cancer risks. This work provides insights into the diverse ways that people interpret cancer information and perceive risk and identifies improved methods of conducting cancer risk communication and risk education.

No description available.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to create a program for the human exploration of Mars that will rely heavily on nuclear technologies. NASA has an established nuclear technology program that recently became the focus of public protest over the risk from the technologies. Focusing on the Cassini mission to Saturn, the citizens protesting the mission claimed that the risk was environmental, global and moral. This protest is the first coherent international protest ever faced by the U.S. space program. The language and ideas espoused by the anti-nuclear groups protesting the use of plutonium-238 to power the Cassini spacecraft shows a clear linkage between anti-nuclear power and environmental protests and nuclear war protests. The analysis focuses on the use messages and meanings that underlie the protestor's use of three acronyms: Not in My Backyard (NIMBY), Not on Planet Earth (NOPE), and Not [in] Outer Space Either (NOSE). The anti-space nuclear power protest is predicted to have significant consequences for NASA's planned human missions to Mars because of NASA's reliance on nuclear technologies such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators and nuclear reactors. / Master of Science

Of all personal protective equipment available for the health and safety of workers, respiratory protection may be the most commonly used. It is also one of the most difficult to administer properly. Improper wearing of respirators can have serious consequences. Of 482,000 reported occupational illnesses in 1996, nearly 22,000 of these were attributed to respiratory conditions as a result of inhalation of toxic agents. Providing effective respiratory safety training has generally proven to be challenging, since the protection a respirator provides is dependent on how well the respirator fits the worker's face. Improper donning can lead to serious health consequences and may even be fatal. Training methods are effective if they facilitate workers' progress towards health promoting goals. In this case, proper respirator donning ability is the final exam in determining training method effectiveness. The potential benefit of improving worker health and a review of the OSHA respiratory protection regulations revealed a need for additional investigation about effective respiratory safety training techniques. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of three different training methods (commercial videotape, manufacturer package instructions and a systematic interactive multimedia method). The experiment was divided into two parts. In part one, each training method was examined for its' ability to enable subjects to provide safety information and to identify risks associated with respiratory hazards. Each training technique was also evaluated as function of subject education level, age and gender differences. In terms of safety knowledge and risk perception, results indicated that the systematic interactive multimedia technique was the most effective at training OSHA recommended respiratory safety knowledge, and causing a significant difference between risk perception ratings of worksite conditions determined from a pre- and post- training questionnaire. The systematic interactive multimedia technique incorporated a systematically designed multimedia program with a one-on-one modeled respirator donning technique. Neither manufacturer provided package instructions nor the commercial videotape was significant for safety knowledge or risk perception. Part two of the experiment was the final exam in terms of training effectiveness, where subject ability to achieve passing Quantitative Fit Testing (QFT) after donning half- and full- facepiece negative pressure respirators was evaluated. Training methods were assessed in terms of donning instructions. Additional effects evaluated were respirator presentation order, age, education level and gender differences. Evaluation studies inherently have limitations that affect the interpretation of effects. Quantitative fit testing of respirator masks used in this study could only be conducted on 52 of 72 study participants. Eleven females and nine males were eliminated and were scored as missing values in QFT data analysis due to the constraint imposed by the fact that no available half-facepiece or full-facepiece masks could fit/seal their face shapes. Non-parametric testing indicated the commercial videotape and manufacturers' package instructions were more effective at training subjects to pass half-face respirator quantitative fit testing than full-face respirators. No significant presentation order, age, education level or gender effects were shown. Subjects who could not be tested were petite females and obese males. This finding suggests that a need for additional mask sizes (e.g. extra-small, extra-large) by manufacturers was indicated to reduce the need for custom made to fit masks. In addition, manufacturer's of negative pressure respirators need to be aware of the large number of QFT failures encountered in this study, as well as their causes to improve design. Additional information was obtained in the course of analyzing QFT data. First, a large number of subjects failed quantitative fit testing due to their inability to properly tighten headstraps. All training methods were evaluated for effectiveness in ability to properly convey headstrap tightening. Based on QFT pass/fail results, the systematic interactive multimedia training was shown to be more effective at training headstrap tightening for full-facepiece than half-facepiece respirators, as it resulted in the least number of QFT failures due to improper headstrap tightening. No method was superior to the others at training half-facepiece mask headstrap tightening. / Master of Science