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Importance of evaluating the context within which notification occurs
Author(s) -
Houts Peter S.,
McDougall Ver
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700230128
Subject(s) - medicine , notification system , context (archaeology) , affect (linguistics) , partner notification , environmental health , public health , medical emergency , nursing , family medicine , psychology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , computer science , biology , computer network , paleontology , communication , syphilis
Workers' response to notification about health effects from exposure to toxic materials is determined not just by the content of the message but also by the “context” within which notification occurs, that is, the workers' prenotification knowledge, attitudes, and experiences concerning environmental health risks in general as well as the health problem that is the subject of the notification. In many cases, workers already have a high level of awareness of environmental health issues and are also aware that their work environments could be bad for their health, before receiving official notification of a particular health risk. This is one reason why worker notification programs often have limited impacts on the workers' health behaviors. To understand this process, researchers should assess workers' baseline attitudes and behaviors and study how they affect response to notification. Persons conducting notification programs should evaluate workers' prenotification attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors, and use this information in planning notification efforts. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.