TY - JOUR
T1 - Citizen Science Approach to Home Radon Testing, Environmental Health Literacy and Efficacy
AU - Stanifer, Stacy
AU - Hoover, Anna Goodman
AU - Rademacher, Kathy
AU - Rayens, Mary Kay
AU - Haneberg, William
AU - Hahn, Ellen J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s).
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Exposure to radon is a leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. However, few test their homes for radon. There is a need to increase access to radon testing and decrease radon exposure. This longitudinal, mixed-methods study using a citizen science approach recruited and trained a convenience sample of 60 non-scientist homeowners from four rural Kentucky counties to test their homes for radon using a low-cost continuous radon detector, report back findings, and participate in a focus group to assess their testing experience. The aim was to evaluate changes in environmental health literacy (EHL) and efficacy over time. Participants completed online surveys at baseline, post-testing, and 4-5 months later to evaluate EHL, response efficacy, health information efficacy, and self-efficacy related to radon testing and mitigation. Mixed modeling for repeated measures evaluated changes over time. Citizen scientists reported a significant increase in EHL, health information efficacy, and radon testing self-efficacy over time. While there was a significant increase in citizen scientists' confidence in their perceived ability to contact a radon mitigation professional, there was no change over time in citizen scientists' beliefs that radon mitigation would reduce the threat of radon exposure, nor was there a change in their capacity to hire a radon mitigation professional. Further research is needed to understand the role of citizen science in home radon mitigation.
AB - Exposure to radon is a leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. However, few test their homes for radon. There is a need to increase access to radon testing and decrease radon exposure. This longitudinal, mixed-methods study using a citizen science approach recruited and trained a convenience sample of 60 non-scientist homeowners from four rural Kentucky counties to test their homes for radon using a low-cost continuous radon detector, report back findings, and participate in a focus group to assess their testing experience. The aim was to evaluate changes in environmental health literacy (EHL) and efficacy over time. Participants completed online surveys at baseline, post-testing, and 4-5 months later to evaluate EHL, response efficacy, health information efficacy, and self-efficacy related to radon testing and mitigation. Mixed modeling for repeated measures evaluated changes over time. Citizen scientists reported a significant increase in EHL, health information efficacy, and radon testing self-efficacy over time. While there was a significant increase in citizen scientists' confidence in their perceived ability to contact a radon mitigation professional, there was no change over time in citizen scientists' beliefs that radon mitigation would reduce the threat of radon exposure, nor was there a change in their capacity to hire a radon mitigation professional. Further research is needed to understand the role of citizen science in home radon mitigation.
KW - citizen science
KW - environmental health
KW - health literacy
KW - radon
KW - self-efficacy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132703700&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85132703700&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5334/cstp.472
DO - 10.5334/cstp.472
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132703700
SN - 2057-4991
VL - 7
JO - Citizen Science: Theory and Practice
JF - Citizen Science: Theory and Practice
IS - 1
M1 - 26
ER -