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Improving communication on Cryptosporidium and 'Boil Water' notices: Lessons from Pitsford
SPONSORS:
PARTNERS/COLLABORATORS:
King's
College London
University of East Anglia
RESEARCHERS:
Gabriella
Rundblad
Paul Hunter
Olivia
Knapton
Jo Van
Herwegen
PROJECT DATES:
January 2009 - September 2010
PROJECT SUMMARY:
In June 2008, some 258,000 consumers in the Northampton and Daventry area were issued with a 'Boil Water' notice when the water supply from Pitsford water treatment works became contaminated with the cryptosporidium parasite after a rabbit entered the works. We are investigating how consumers affected by the Pitsford incident understood the risks posed by their tap water and if/when/how they chose to protect themselves from the parasite and the disease it can cause in animals and humans.
This project is carried out in parallel with the Leverhulme funded project The impact of language and cognition on compliance during a natural disaster. By carrying out two parallel studies of two water incidents, we are able to directly compare and contrast language, understanding of risk and degree of compliance. In particular, this amalgamation of results and conclusions will enable us to determine and explain the efficiency of different information channels, differences/similarities in interpretation of the message depending on information source and consumer background, and how these impacted on consumer behaviour.
If you would like some more information about our project, please contact Olivia Knapton, olivia.knapton@kcl.ac.uk, 020 78483176. We are happy to answer any questions you might have.
Postal Questionnaire:
We sent out
postal questionnaires to randomly selected households in Northamptonshire. The
aim of the questionniare is to find out what consumers remember about the
advice they received and what actions they chose or chose not to take. We have
finished data collection and data analysis
now.
PROJECT PRESENTATIONS, REPORTS AND ARTICLES:
PRESENTATIONS
We have
presented the results from this study at
the Health Protection
Agency Conference, September 2009, Warwick, UK, and
the American Public
Health Association Annual Meeting & Exposition, November 2009,
Philadelphia, US.
REPORTS
A copy of
the final report is available here.
ARTICLES
We have submitted one article based on our
questionnaire results. Copies of accepted/published articles will be made
available here in due
course.
© 2009-2011