Grantee Research Project Results
Enhancing Communication to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposure Due to Prescribed Burns
EPA Grant Number: R840241Title: Enhancing Communication to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposure Due to Prescribed Burns
Investigators: Adetona, Olorunfemi , Ihekweazu, Chioma
Institution: The Ohio State University , Battelle Memorial Institute
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2024 (Extended to March 31, 2026)
Project Amount: $999,995
RFA: Interventions and Communication Strategies to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposures (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Wildfires , Air Quality and Air Toxics
Objective:
This project will address a key gap in wildland fire management with regards to effective and targeted risk communication during prescribed burn events. Although prescribed burning is an essential land management tool, it contributes substantially to air pollution in the United States. There is limited knowledge about health risk communication regarding wildland fire smoke exposure from prescribed burns. Additionally, evidence suggests that wildland fire management agencies are uncertain about how to effectively communicate potential health risk of wildland fire smoke to the public. The specific objectives for the study are to:
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Understand the barriers and facilitators that institutions face when communicating the potential risks associated with prescribed burn events with surrounding community members.
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Collate best practices in risk communication that may be applied to prescribed burn events.
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Facilitate uptake of risk communication messaging, materials, and mechanisms that best meet the needs of both institutional and community stakeholders.
Approach:
To address this gap, our proposed research includes the utilization of a robust and innovative mixed-methods approach to conduct formative research about the health risk communication challenges that institutions face during prescribed burn events. What we learn will inform the development and dissemination of a Risk Communication Toolkit, followed by an evaluation of improvements in institutional capacity to effectively plan for and conduct health risk communication in communities surrounding prescribed burn events. We will review the scientific and grey literature and conduct key informant interviews with relevant institutional- and community-based participants who are identified from stakeholder mapping to determine current practices, barriers, and facilitators of health risk communication about prescribed burns. Informed by the literature review and interviews, we will collate best practices in risk communication and develop a toolkit for health risk communication for prescribed burn events that will be hosted on the project website. Following validation through focus groups of institution- and community-based participants, we will disseminate the health risk communication toolkit through the project website, social media, stakeholder networks, and series of virtual workshops. We will use web analytics of the risk communication website and a pre-/post-implementation survey of virtual workshop participants to evaluate the reach and effectiveness of the toolkit.
Expected Results:
Our project will address institutional barriers and facilitators for risk communication of prescribed burn events; increase awareness of potential health impacts and interventions related to prescribed burn events; improve institutional awareness and access to risk communication messaging, and materials; and increase collaboration among stakeholders. Furthermore, we anticipate our study will benefit both wildland fire agencies and other institutional stakeholders, as well as communities surrounding prescribed burn events through an increase in self-efficacy and sustainability of institutional risk communication efforts; an increase in community knowledge of what to do during a prescribed burn event; and an increase in cues to action within surrounding communities. We expect that in the long term, such efforts would lead to a decrease in exposures of the public to wildland fire smoke and health impacts due to prescribed burn events.
Supplemental Keywords:
Ambient air, air quality, human health, risk mitigation, community-based, mixed methods, qualitative data analysis, electronic data capture, firefightingProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.