Relationship of perception of radon as a health risk and willingness to engage in radon testing and mitigation.

Purpose/objectives: To gather data on radon levels and determine correlations among subjects' characteristics, willingness to test for radon, and perceptions of radon as a health risk.

Design: Descriptive correlational.

Setting: Rural DeKalb County in northern Illinois.

Achieving compliance with the radium standards for drinking water in a midwestern community: a case study.

The problem of elevated levels of radium in the drinking-water supply of DeKalb, Illinois, a Midwestern community about 65 miles west of Chicago with approximately 35,000 residents, has been a contentious issue for over a decade. The central players in the controversy include a group of concerned citizens, city officials, the Illinois Pollution Control Board, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S.

Health-promoting behaviours in public health: testing the health promotion model.

A health-promoting lifestyle encompasses far more than preventing disease and is characterised by behaviours that lead to optimal well-being, self-actualisation, and personal fulfillment. This study was undertaken to investigate the health-promoting lifestyles of employees working in local public health departments (n = 602) and to test two research hypotheses suggested by the Health Promotion Model. The first hypothesis posited that public health professionals would report significantly more favourable health-promoting behaviours than support staff employed in the same departments.

Differences in self-reported health behaviors between public health professionals and support staff.

Differences in self-reported health behaviors between public health professionals and support staff were examined. 431 women working in nine county health departments in northern Illinois completed the Health-promoting Lifestyle Profile. The professionals reported a healthier lifestyle than the support staff.

Job satisfaction in public health: a comparative analysis of five occupational groups.

Five occupational groups of public health workers (health administrators, nursing personnel, environmental health personnel, other public health workers, and public health support staff) from nine county health departments in the midwestern United States were statistically compared to uncover similarities and differences in job satisfaction/dissatisfaction that might be important in planning effective intervention programmes designed to improve satisfaction on the job. Each participant in the study (n = 602) completed three validated job satisfaction/dissatisfaction instruments: the Job Descriptive Index, the Job in General scale and the Occupational Needs Questionnaire. Several discernable trends in job satisfaction/dissatisfaction were identified among the groups.

Establishing guidelines for the identification of occupational injuries: a systematic appraisal.

The workplace is a significant contributor to injuries and injury fatalities in the United States. Unfortunately, the systems in place for collecting and coding injury data suffer from a number of limitations that make it difficult, if not impossible, to enumerate accurately the true scope and import of occupational injuries and injury fatalities. At present, there are no nationally agreed upon standards for defining, reporting, and recording occupational (and nonoccupational) injuries.

Relationship of religiosity to wellness and other health-related behaviors and outcomes.

The relationship of religiosity to health-enhancing attitudes and behaviors (wellness), health-compromising behaviors, and adverse health-related outcomes was examined in a sample of 1,077 college students from a large, comprehensive mid-western university. In general, religiosity was positively correlated with wellness and inversely correlated with health-compromising behaviors and illnesses. Interpretation of the findings was complicated in some instances by significant interactions between study variables.

A multiple discriminant analysis of smoking status and health-related attitudes and behaviors.

Using multiple discriminant analysis, we examined several health-related attitudes and behaviors (HABs) simultaneously across groups of university students differing by smoking status (n = 1,077). Nine HABs were considered: health responsibility, exercise, nutrition, interpersonal support, stress management, alcohol consumption, drug use, caffeine consumption, and safety practices. Overall, the findings indicated that HABs, particularly those involving substance use, differed among the smoking and nonsmoking groups.

Risk-taking behaviors and other correlates of seat belt use among university students.

A cross-sectional study of 1,077 students enrolled in a large, comprehensive Midwestern university in the United States was conducted to elicit a better understanding of the correlates of seat belt use. Examined were seven risk-taking behaviors, health-promoting behavior, and age, sex, and race. Overall, five of the seven risk-taking behaviors, including cigarette smoking status, drinking status, amount of alcohol consumed, drug use, and drinking and driving were inversely correlated with the frequency of seat belt use (P = 0.

The marketing approach as a model for mental health needs assessment.

This article compares the marketing approach of private business to the mental health planning process as it relates to needs assessment. It is the authors' assumption that the future of mental health programs will depend on careful planning designed to exhibit fiscal responsibility and program accountability. It is concluded that private business is an appropriate resource for planning strategies in mental health, and one that mental health administrators can readily turn to, especially in time of shrinking revenues for human service programs.