Lessons learned from a pilot integrated pest management (IPM) education intervention

Issue: Pesticide use has been linked to many diseases and disorders and has increased drastically in the last several decades. Hence, efforts to educate communities about safer pest control methods such as integrated pest management (IPM) have emerged. Description:This project sought to educate urban community residents about safer methods to control pests in and around their homes and evaluate the intervention's effectiveness in reducing residential use of pesticides. Participants were recruited through neighborhood associations, community based organizations, and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. Educational sessions provided information on pests, dangers of pesticides, IPM methods, and alternative products to control pests. Participants completed a questionnaire before and six months after the one-hour educational session. The questionnaire gathered information on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, pesticide use, and the use of safer practices among an urban, minority population. Ten dollar gift certificates to Walmart or Target were used as incentives. Lessons Learned:Seventy individuals participated in the project. Eighty-eight percent were African American, 76.5% were female, 56% lived in non-public housing, 50% were between 46 and 65 years of age, and 31% made less than $10,999 annually. The follow-up rate at 6 months was 18.5%. This may have been due to: lack of interest, length of the questionnaire, length of the educational session, length of time to follow-up, transience of the population, and inadequate incentives. At baseline 98% of respondents thought pesticides could be harmful, 84% were concerned about pesticide spraying in their apartment/home, and 86% supported safer methods. However, 83% of respondents thought pesticides were the best way to eliminate pests, and 60% used pesticides within the prior 6 months.

Recommendations:Methodological changes such as shortening the questionnaire and educational session, increasing or changing the incentives, and decreasing time to follow-up should be implemented to improve the follow-up rate.