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Smoke Sense: Citizen Scientist Typologies
Citation:
Hano, M., S. Prince, L. Wei, B. Hubbell, AND A. Rappold. Smoke Sense: Citizen Scientist Typologies. Virtual-Frontiers in Public Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, October 28, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
The objectives of Smoke Sense are to advance the state of the science on smoke and health, as well as to facilitate individual-level change in health behaviors among users exposed to wildfire smoke. In support of those objectives, in the present study we sought to understand the extent to which there are typical user profiles/types and, if so, the extent to which engagement in exposure reducing behaviors varies across user type. Understanding the types of users and their behaviors can inform the Smoke Sense project itself but more broadly can inform strategies designed to reduce the public health burden of wildfire smoke. Helping active, healthy participants understand the risks that they face, and providing vulnerable and skeptical participants with the information they need to be able to make appropriate choices to reduce exposures may lead to reductions in smoke exposure and improved public health.
Description:
U.S. EPA’s Smoke Sense mobile phone application provides real-time information about wildfire smoke and air quality to users and engages them as citizen scientists by inviting reports of smoke, heath, and behaviors. Since 2017 Smoke Sense has been downloaded over 20,000 times, and 2,800+ users actively provide reports. The objectives of Smoke Sense are to advance the state of the science on smoke and health, as well as to facilitate individual-level change in health behaviors among users exposed to wildfire smoke. In support of those objectives, in the present study we sought to understand the extent to which there are typical user profiles/types and, if so, the extent to which engagement in exposure reducing behaviors varies across user type. We use cluster analysis to assess the extent to which participants group together based on responses to Smoke Sense onboarding questions that ask for perspectives on air quality, health, and actions that can reduce smoke exposures. We use multinomial logit modeling to test whether membership in the different clusters is associated with demographic characteristics of the individuals. Finally, we assess differences across user profile groups with respect to reported engagement in exposure reducing behaviors. Using the Complete Linkage clustering algorithm, we identified a 4-cluster solution of relatively homogenous groups of Smoke Sense participants, characterized as “Healthy, Unprepared, Low Information Needs”, “Vulnerable, Low Information Needs”, Highly Vulnerable, Prepared, High Information Needs,” and “Skeptics”. Preliminary findings suggest the differentiating factors including health status, access to exposure reducing technologies (e.g. air purifier, respirator, etc.), and personal information needs. The results of the multinomial logit modeling showed that gender, age, and overall self-reported health status are associated with cluster membership at p<0.01. Understanding the types of users and their behaviors can inform the Smoke Sense project itself but more broadly can inform strategies designed to reduce the public health burden of wildfire smoke. Helping active, healthy participants understand the risks that they face, and providing vulnerable and skeptical participants with the information they need to be able to make appropriate choices to reduce exposures may lead to reductions in smoke exposure and improved public health.