scholarly journals Developing Youth Environmental Health Literacy and Civic Leadership through Community Air Monitoring in Imperial County, California

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Madrigal ◽  
Mariana Claustro ◽  
Michelle Wong ◽  
Esther Bejarano ◽  
Luis Olmedo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Air Monitoring ◽  
School Students ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Youth Leaders ◽  
Environmental Health Literacy ◽  
Civic Leadership

With a rapidly changing climate, new leaders must be trained to understand and act on emerging environmental threats. In California’s Imperial Valley, a collaborative of community members, researchers, and scientists developed a community air monitoring network to provide local residents with better air quality information. To expand the reach of the project and to prepare the next generation of youth leaders we developed an internship program to increase environmental health literacy and civic leadership. In the 10-week program, high school students learned about air quality science, respiratory health, community air monitoring, and policies intended to improve air quality. The students learned to present this information to their peers, neighbors, family, and community leaders. The program used participatory approaches familiar to community-engaged research to center the students’ experience. Surveys and interviews with the students were used to assess the program and found that the students became more familiar with air quality policies, increased their ability to use air monitoring resources, and increased their own confidence in their ability to effect change. With the growing threats related to environmental hazards, it is vital to prepare youth leaders to understand, communicate, and act.

scholarly journals What Do Childcare Providers Know about Environmental Influences on Children’s Health? Implications for Environmental Health Literacy Efforts

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5489
Author(s):  
Brenda D. Koester ◽  
Stephanie Sloane ◽  
Elinor M. Fujimoto ◽  
Barbara H. Fiese ◽  
Leona Yi-Fan Su
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Children's Health ◽  
Children’S Health ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Environmental Health Literacy ◽  
Childcare Providers

Children are uniquely vulnerable to toxicant exposures in their environment, which can have long-lasting impacts on their health. Childcare providers are an important population to target for environmental health literacy, as most children in the United States under five years of age spend a significant number of waking hours in non-parental care. There is an increasing body of evidence that children are exposed to toxicants in the childcare environment, and yet little is known about what childcare providers know about environmental influences on the health of children in their care. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 36 home- and center-based Illinois childcare providers to better understand their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors as they relate to environmental influences on children’s health. We found that the majority of providers had a low level of understanding of potential sources of exposure in the childcare environment, and they did not feel that environmental exposures posed a significant risk to children. Future efforts to increase environmental health literacy should focus on raising awareness and knowledge of environmental health issues for childcare providers before addressing ways that providers can reduce or prevent toxicant exposures to children in their care.

Mental Health Literacy in Iranian Adolescents

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1551-1556
Author(s):  
Arezoo . ◽  
Behbood . ◽  
Alireza . ◽  
Salehi . ◽  
Hossein . ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
At Risk ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
School Students ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Illiteracy

Background: Mental health literacy (MHL) is a relatively ignored determinant of community mental health in Iran, in which its level and determinants should be addressed. Aim: To investigate MHL and its components among Iranian adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. After multistage cluster random sampling, 500 high school students were enrolled. Previously validated Persian version of theMHL Scale (MHLS) was used for data collection. In addition, data on socio-demographic variables were also collected. Adolescents with an MHL score of less than 60% of the achievable score were considered as at-risk of mental health illiteracy. Relevant statistical analyses were used to determine the MHL level and its association with sociodemographic variables. Results: Overall prevalence of being at-risk of mental health illiteracy was estimated at 71.5 % (95% CI: 67.1, 75.6). Prevalence of being at-risk of stigmatization, inadequate self-help knowledge, and information seeking was 91.2 (95% CI: 88.3, 93.7), 60.3 (95% CI: 59.8, 60.8), and 36.6 (95% CI: 36.1, 37.1), respectively. Having religious beliefs was associated with the stigmatization component (adjusted OR= 2.66, 95% CI: 1.27-5.59). Conclusions: Prevalence of being at-risk of mental health illiteracy is high among Iranian adolescents. Mental disorders are highly stigmatized in Iran. Keywords: Mental Health Literacy, Health Literacy, Adolescent, Iran, Mental Disorder

scholarly journals Health Literacy of Hearing-Impaired High School Students, Some of the Problem, and their Expectations

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Gür ◽  
G Dolaner ◽  
R Turan
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Healthcare Service ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
School Students

Abstract Purpose This study aims to determine hearing-impaired students’ levels of health literacy, problems when they receive healthcare service and their expectations. Methods This descriptive study was conducted on 88 hearing-impaired high school students over 15 years of age. The data collection tools used in the study are “Form of Problems Experienced When Receiving Healthcare Service”, “Form of Expectations from Healthcare Service”, and Turkey Health Literacy Scale (THLS-32). The researchers know sign language. The Health Sciences Faculty granted approval for the study (04.12.2017-255). The families were informed of the program through the school administration, and their consent was obtained. Results 70.5% of the students had inadequate, 19.3% had limited, 2.3% had adequate and 8% had excellent health literacy levels. Those who had communication problems with the doctor (25%), those who misused the prescribed medication (13.6%) and those who could not use the medication without help (43.2%) had low THLS scores (<0.05). Those who stated that they did not understand what the nurses said (43.2%) and the health education materials (56.8%) and those who reported that they were confused when they had more than one appointment (20.5%) had significantly low THLS scores (<0.05). 55.7% of them expected that their prescriptions or care procedures were to be given in writing, and 87.5% expected them to be told in sign language. Conclusions Most of of the participants have significantly weaker general health literacy. Students with low THLS scores have less understanding of the given information and have problems with health workers. Main messages: This can create disparities and inequalities in the use of healthcare services and in the health outcomes. Key messages This can create disparities and inequalities in the use of healthcare services. This can create disparities and in the health outcomes.

scholarly journals Advancing Environmental Health Literacy: Validated Scales of General Environmental Health and Environmental Media-Specific Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (21) ◽  
pp. 4157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lichtveld ◽  
Covert ◽  
Sherman ◽  
Shankar ◽  
Wickliffe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
Environmental Health Literacy ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Three Factor

Environmental health literacy (EHL) involves understanding and using environmental information to make decisions about health. This study developed a validated survey instrument with four scales for assessing media-specific (i.e., air, food, water) and general EHL. The four scales were created as follows: 1) item generation: environmental health scientists and statisticians developed an initial set of items in three domains: knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; 2) item review: items were reviewed for face validity; 3) validation: 174 public health students, the exploratory sample, and 98 community members, the test sample, validated the scales. The scales’ factor structure was based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and model fit was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). For each scale, the final EFA resulted in an independent three-factor solution for knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Good fit for the three-factor structure was observed. Model fit for CFA was generally confirmed with fit indices. The scales showed internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha from 0.63 to 0.70. The 42-item instrument represents an important contribution towards assessing EHL and is designed to enable meaningful engagement between researchers and community members about environmental health. The intended outcome is sustained community–academic partnerships benefiting research design, implementation, translation, dissemination, and community action.

scholarly journals Development and Validation of an Environmental Health Literacy Assessment Screening Tool for Domestic Well Owners: The Water Environmental Literacy Level Scale (WELLS)

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 881
Author(s):  
Veronica Irvin ◽  
Diana Rohlman ◽  
Amelia Vaughan ◽  
Rebecca Amantia ◽  
Claire Berlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Screening Tool ◽  
Environmental Literacy ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Environmental Health Literacy ◽  
Literacy Level ◽  
Level Scale ◽  
Kappa Agreement

In the U.S., privately owned wells are not subject to any regulatory testing requirements. Well owners must have sufficient environmental health literacy (EHL) to understand and interpret information that contain complex terms and labels to manage their water quality. The objective of this paper is to assess the performance and validity of a new EHL screening tool. The Water Environmental Literacy Level Scale (WELLS) is based on the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) and contains six questions on comprehension, calculations and application of information. Content validity was assessed from expert review. Criterion-related and construct validity were evaluated using an online, convenience sample of adults (n = 869). Percent of correct responses for items ranged from 53% to 96% for NVS and from 41% to 97% for WELLS. Completion time, mean scores, distributions, and internal consistency were equivalent between both scales. Higher scores suggest higher EHL. The scales were moderately correlated (ρ = 0.47, p < 0.001). Kappa agreement was 74%. Bland-Altman plots depicted little mean difference between the scales. Education and income level were positively associated with EHL. WELLS showed criterion-validity with NVS and construct validity with education and income. In practice or research, WELLS could quickly screen individuals for low EHL.

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