Environmental Sustainability & Health Institute, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; Environmental Research Institute, University of Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Nov 20;796:148844. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148844. Epub 2021 Jul 16.
Risk communication represents the optimal instrument for decreasing the incidence of private groundwater contamination and associated waterborne illnesses. However, despite attempts to promote voluntary well maintenance in high groundwater-reliant regions such as the Republic of Ireland, awareness levels of supply status (e.g. structural integrity) have remained low. As investigations of supply awareness are often thematically narrow and homogeneous with respect to sub-population, revised analyses of awareness among both current and future supply owners (i.e. adults of typical well owner and student age) are necessary. Accordingly, the current study utilised a national survey of well users and an age-based comparison of supply awareness. Awareness was measured among 560 Irish private well users using a multi-domain scoring framework and analysed in conjunction with experiential variables including experience of extreme weather events and previous household infections, and perceived self-efficacy in maintaining supply. Respondents displayed a median overall awareness score of 66.7%, with supply owners (n = 399) and students (n = 161) exhibiting median scores of 75% and 58.3%. Awareness among both combined respondent subsets and well owners was significantly related to gender, well use factors and self-perceived behavioural efficacy while awareness among students was not correlated with any independent variable. Cluster analysis identified three distinct respondent groups characterised by awareness score and gender in both current and future well owner subsets. Male well owners and students displayed higher perceived self-efficacy irrespective of awareness score while female well owners that demonstrated high awareness were significantly more likely to report postgraduate educational (p < 0.001). Findings suggest that recent experience of extreme weather events does not significantly influence supply awareness and mirror previously identified knowledge differences between well owners and young adults. Age, gender, supply use and perceived self-efficacy emerge as recurring focal points and accordingly merit consideration from groundwater and health communication practitioners for future risk interventions.
风险沟通是降低私人地下水污染和相关水传播疾病发病率的最佳手段。然而，尽管爱尔兰共和国等地下水依赖程度高的地区试图促进自愿维护水井，但对供水状况（如结构完整性）的认识水平仍然较低。由于对供水意识的调查通常在主题上较为狭隘且针对特定子群体具有同质性，因此有必要对当前和未来的供水所有者（即典型水井所有者和学生年龄的成年人）的供水意识进行修正分析。因此，本研究利用了一项全国性的水井用户调查和基于年龄的供水意识比较。使用多领域评分框架对 560 名爱尔兰私人水井用户进行了意识测量，并与经验变量（包括极端天气事件和以前家庭感染的经历以及维持供水的自我效能感）一起进行了分析。受访者的总体意识平均得分为 66.7%，供水所有者（n=399）和学生（n=161）的中位数得分分别为 75%和 58.3%。两个综合受访者群体和水井所有者的意识均与性别、水井使用因素和自我感知的行为效能显著相关，而学生的意识与任何独立变量均无相关性。聚类分析确定了三个不同的受访者群体，其特征是在当前和未来的水井所有者子集中，按意识得分和性别划分。无论意识得分如何，男性水井所有者和学生都表现出较高的自我效能感，而表现出高意识的女性水井所有者则更有可能接受研究生教育（p<0.001）。研究结果表明，最近经历的极端天气事件并不会显著影响供水意识，这与之前在水井所有者和年轻人之间发现的知识差异相吻合。年龄、性别、供水使用和自我感知的效能感是反复出现的焦点，因此地下水和健康传播从业者在未来的风险干预措施中值得考虑。
