The Wisconsin Division of Public Health and the State of Maine Bureau of Health have collaborated on a mercury advisory awareness project to estimate the prevalence of mercury sport fishing advisory awareness among women of childbearing age, determine the most effective method(s) of disseminating health information to women and determine the mercury body burden level among this subpopulation. The five components to the project include focus groups, a 12-state telephone survey of 3,000 women of childbearing age, hair mercury analyses, intervention programs and follow-up telephone survey in Maine and Wisconsin to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention phase. 82-90% of respondents in the 12 states reported consuming fish during the past year. Sport fish consumption in the past year varied between 13-43%. Advisory awareness among sport fish consumers ranged from 5-43%. 415 hair samples were analyzed for mercury from women in the 12 states. The awareness interventions will disseminate information to the target populations on how to avoid or reduce exposure to mercury through consumption of sport fish. The program will utilize information gathered from the focus groups and national telephone survey to develop methods to successfully distribute advisory information to women who are not getting the message. By increasing the proportion of women who are aware of the advisory, the program will decrease mercury exposure to women of childbearing age and their offspring. In addition, the intervention design will be shared with other states so that their advisory information will be distributed successfully to this subpopulation.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: 1) Identify what groups are not receiving sport fish advisory information and why they are at risk 2) Discuss the prevalence of advisory awareness among women in the 12 states 3) Identify several means of outreach to improve awareness of sport fishing advisories among the target populations
Keywords: Outreach Programs, Environmental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.