Public health professionals and the environment : a study of perceptions and attitudes.

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dc.contributor.authorMcMeiken, J. Elizabethen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-14T22:46:45Z
dc.date.available2024-08-14T22:46:45Z
dc.date.copyright1970en_US
dc.date.issued1970
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Geography
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractPublic Health decision-makers, instrumental in the formulation and application of water quality management policy in British Columbia, have varied perceptions and attitudes as to the identification of problems and rec­ommending solutions to them, and as to their role and the role of others in dealing with such matters. Knowledge that this is so, is important because perceptions and attitudes are ultimately reflected in public policy enactments. Forty officials (the Medical Health Officer and Senior Public Health Inspector of each of the twenty regional Health Units in the Province) were interviewed. Information was gathered on the general biographical and professional characteristics of these professionals, their perceptions of water quality problems and potential so­lutions to them, and on their attitudes as to the locus of responsibility for initiating action on such matters. The influence of factors underlying the perceptions and attitudes of Public Health professionals toward water quality management decision-making in British Columbia was analyzed in two stages. The first stage consisted of two parts: namely, the identification of those background characteristics of Public Health officials that might influence their decision-making behaviour; and the identi­fication of perceptions and attitudes that might affect decisions about particular problems with which they have to deal. Correlation and factor analyses techniques were used to distinguish the principal independent and dependent variables, based upon functional relationships which ap­peared in the data. The second stage of the analysis employed a multiple regression technique to determine both the nature and the extent of the orthogonal relationships. Its purpose was to isolate the factors which appeared to be most significant in influencing the perceptions and attitudes of Public Health professionals. The findings revealed that there are considerable variations in Public Health officials' perceptions of water quality management. It seems also that there are variations in perceptions of solutions, and attitudes as to the locus of responsibility for dealing with them. The results appeared to support many of the findings of other studies but also suggest additional lines for enquiry. Certain socio-psychological dimensions such as age, status, environmental and professional experiences, and views toward the man-milieu relationship, appeared to have a differing although important influence on decision-making behaviour. The study attempted to show how the behavioural approach to resources management has its theoretical underpinnings in a body of theory relating to both covert and overt processes developed by other disciplines, in particular psychology, sociology, and political science. The findings of the study have implications both for research relating to the human adjustment to the environ­ment, and for public policy concerning matters of environ­mental quality.en
dc.format.extent314 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/18959
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titlePublic health professionals and the environment : a study of perceptions and attitudes.en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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