Investigation On The Status And Residents' Demand Of Environmental Health Education In Some Urban And Rural Areas In China

Objective To study the status and residents'demand of environmental health education in urban and rural areas in China. Methods In this investigation, questionnaire survey and individual interview are used together. Questionnaire Survey: Totally, 4800 urban and rural residents from Lanzhou, Taiyuan, Shanghai and Qingdao were recruited and investigated by the self-designed questionnaire. Individual Interviewing method :At the same time, individual interview were carried on among government administrative officers, health education experts and residents in above areas.In each area, 6~8 eligible persons were interviewed, respectively. Results (1) most of the investigated residents thought that there is environment pollution in varying degrees in the local area. Compared with urban residents, rural resident have higher percentage of response with above opinion. At present, people pay the closest attention on air pollution, rather than water pollution and pesticide pollution; Occupation, eduction background and income level are influential factors of residents'view on environmental status. (2)The average scores of environmental health knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of urban and rural residents were 4.14±1.30,4.88±0.85,4.05±1.11, respectively. The main influencing factors of environmental health knowledge are education background (β=0.220,P﹤0.01)and the opportunity of getting environmental health education(β=0.164,P﹤0.01). The main influencing factor of environmental health attitude is the opportunity of getting environmental health education(β=0.201,P﹤0.01), same for environmental health practice (β=0.288,P﹤0.01). (3) Nearly 38% of the residents have many opportunities to receive environmental health education, and the interviewed residents generally think that the current environmental health education is very weak. 93.6% of the residents hope to learn environmental and health knowledge and nearly 88% learn environmental health knowledge by broadcast & television. Nearly 94 % of the majority participants hope to get environment health knowledge if possible. 65.8%, 60.0% of the residents are interested in"the effects of environmental pollution on health","how to prevent health from environment pollution", respectively. Most of the interviewed residents think that it is necessary to carry out environmental health education, which is easy to be understood, lively and close to their real life. Conclusion The investigated residents pay high attention to the environment quality, with intense request to improve environment quality and protect their health. The levels of environmental health KAP among urban and rural investigated residents are generally not so high. Their attitudes to environmental health are active, while knowledge and practice are relatively passive. Environmental health education and education background are the most important influencing factors of residents'environmental health KAP. It is suggested that it is necessary to reinforce target-oriented environmental health education among urban and rural residents in China.