A communication matrix intervention to increase adoption of federal government safety recommendations.

A 3-year, multichannel intervention project assessed adoption of federal government workplace safety testing methods among 3 randomly drawn samples of industrial hygienists. A communication matrix (McGuire, 1985, 1989) framework focusing on stages of reception, processing, and response was used to create, implement, and evaluate the intervention. Participants were interviewed by phone during 3 waves: baseline, immediately following year 1 of the intervention, and immediately following year 2 of the intervention.

An examination of antecedents to coal miners' hearing protection behaviors: a test of the theory of planned behavior.

Problem: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's [NIOSH] National Occupational Research Agenda (DHHS Publication No. 96-115) reports that approximately 50% of miners will experience hearing loss by age 50, compared to only 9% of the general population. The present investigation examines three antecedents believed to be associated with miner's use of hearing protection.

Formative field experiments of a NIOSH alert to reduce the risks to firefighters from structural collapse: applying the cascade framework.

The authors report two field experiments aimed at testing the impact of government safety recommendations. Using a cascade framework from the Communication Matrix (McGuire, 1985, 1989), the study tested effects of reminder cards, message format, argument quality, and mailer types on indicators of reception, processing, and response. Systematic combinations of these variables were mailed to randomly selected firefighting units in the United States.

The cost-effectiveness of 1% or less media campaigns promoting low-fat milk consumption.

Introduction: The purpose of our study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of four strategies using components of 1% Or Less to promote population-based behavior change. 1% Or Less is a mass-media campaign that encourages switching from high-fat (whole or 2%) to low-fat (1% or skim) milk. Using a quasi-experimental design, campaigns were previously conducted in four West Virginia communities using different combinations of 1) paid advertising, 2) media relations, and 3) community-based educational activities.

Using the theory of planned behavior and a stage model of persuasion to evaluate a safety message for firefighters.

A field study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) health and safety message targeted at firefighters and to examine predictors of safety intentions among this group. This project examined: (a) the ability of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict behavioral intentions for firefighters receiving a NIOSH occupational safety and health message; and (b) the use of a persuasion output matrix to assess message impact. A message about firefighting safety was nationally distributed to 36,000 fire chiefs, from which 781 were randomly selected to complete a survey assessing message impact and behavioral intentions.

"If we didn't use humor, we'd cry": humorous coping communication in health care settings.

Folkman and Lazarus's transactional theory of emotion and coping was used to explain how humor influences job satisfaction among health care providers. One hundred forty-two nurses completed measures of humor orientation (HO), coping efficacy, job satisfaction, and open-ended questions about their use of humor to relieve job tensions. This produced 9 categories of producing humor and 8 types of work situations identified in which humor was used to cope.

Using persuasive messages to encourage voluntary hearing protection among coal miners.

Introduction: This longitudinal field study was designed to encourage Appalachian coal miners in West Virginia and Pennsylvania to engage in hearing-protection behaviors.

Method: Participants were mailed postcards that featured either a positive, negative, or neutral message on the outside of the postcard and a message encouraging hearing protection behaviors on the inside. The first posttest measurement of the effectiveness of the persuasive messages was conducted about a week after the postcards were mailed.

The message changes belief and the rest is theory: the "1% or less" milk campaign and reasoned action.

Background: Theory-based approaches to public health interventions are useful for designing, implementing, and evaluating research. This paper describes and presents data to support the theoretical force behind the "1% or less" nutrition intervention studies.

Methods: Using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), high-fat (whole and 2%) milk users were targeted.