1,721,003 research outputs found
Determinanti del consumo di latte negli alunni delle scuole dell’obbligo della Sardegna meridionale
No full textA bottom-up art event gave birth to a process of community empowerment in an Italian village
No full textAlthough community participation is a component of community empowerment, it often
remains a theoretical exhortation. Reporting experiences which enable people to take control of their
lives, can be useful to suggest practical elements for promoting empowerment. This article describes the
experience of a Sardinian village (Ulassai), that developed into a community empowerment. The
Laverack’s operational domains were used to measure the community empowerment process. The
process started in 1979 ‘almost by chance’ with an art performance that was the entry point for community
participation. This experience has been the foundation for the community empowerment.
Citizens acquired the ‘ability of thinking and planning as a community and not mere individuals’. In the
following 30 years citizens gave birth to several outcomes rooted in that event. The intermediate outcomes
highlight the ‘ability of action by a group to mobilize existing resources, and act collectively against
opposing forces’. The long-term outcomes demonstrate the ‘ability to integrate the cultural experiences
that strengthened the community’s identification into a sustainable community asset’, and the ‘ability to
cope with global environmental challenges and to collaborate on an equal basis with other stakeholders.
The pathways to community empowerment, showed by the community of Ulassai, overlap with the
‘operational domains’. The Ulassai experience shows that the empowerment process can start from an
event apparently unrelated to health promotion. This community experience illustrates the positive role
arts can play in community development. Hence, the call for health promoters to look carefully into
those situations that occur naturally in communities
The mouse gave life to the mountain: Gramsci and health promotion
No full textHealth promotion and salutogenesis are embodied in people's everyday lives and in their stories. The assumptions of these scientific theories are similar to Gramsci's theory for better wellbeing in a community, where praxis and capacity building for reflective practice is the way forward for an equal global change. By explaining the road for transformation through narratives, particularly fables, Gramsci manages to reach people from all walks of life, from academics to children. One of these fables, the mouse and the mountain, is here presented as a trigger to health promotion action and as a metaphor for salutogenic thinking. The narrative paradigm for health promotion is the context within which the analogies among 'the mouse's plan', health promotion theory, the salutogenic model, empowerment as well as the practitioners' opinions and experience are discussed and presented. In so doing, a 'storytelling bridge' is created between academics, practitioners and other stakeholders from the health, social and pedagogical arenas in knowledge construction environments. Hence, the article confers the possible contribution of Gramsci's educational perspective within health promotion by presenting a practical example of the use of narratives for capacity building. This is described through the interpretation of the same story in a hypothetical speech told by different storytellers, communicating their personal vision of the mouse's plan and so create a narrative-centered health promotion communication for meaning-making and for embracing theories among scholars and practitioners
Risk target effect on risk perception in an industrial area
No full textThis study describes the results of a survey, carried out by the Department of Public Health between October and December 2002, about the perception of the main risk factors for health and environment in Portoscuso (Ca), an industrial area in south west of Sardinia, declared "Environmental high-risk area " with DPCM 23.04.1993. The aim of survey was to investigate the different risk perception between local and global level analyzed by McNemar test. The results showed that risk perception was significantly higher at global level. We didn't observe any difference about local problematics as industrial pollution, work accidents, acid rain, industrial accident. Regarding risk factors, as food safety and life style, the "unrealistic optimism effect" described by Sjöberg with people risk perception higher at global level, is confirmed. Perception of industrial risk, considered only similar and not higher than in other areas, is influenced by citizens' consciousness of living in an area declared at high risk of environmental crisis. These results should be taken into account in future risk communication process in order to avoid interpretation bias
Survey about risk perception between citizens resident in a municipal at high risk of environmental crisis
No full textOBJECTIVE: This paper describes the result of a survey carried out in 2002 about the risk perception of the main risk factors for health and environment in an industrial area at high risk of environmental crisis, in order to contribute to risk communication programs aiming to make the population informed and conscious about industrial risk.
DESIGN: The survey was carried out in 2002 through questionnaire to investigate citizens' risk perception
SETTING: Municipality of Portoscuso, industrial district located along the South-west coast of Sardinia, and active in the chemical, electrochemical fusion and rolling, thermoelectric fields.
PARTICIPANTS: The survey has been carried out, through home interviews, on a representative sample of the population of Portoscuso, consisting of 148 citizens aged between 18 and 70.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
The results showed that industrial pollution is considered high by more than 80% of the sample at global and even more at local level showing how this represents an important worrying factor for the local people.
CONCLUSION:
This is the basis to develop an effective risk communication process, that involves actively all stakeholders (people, experts, industry and local authorities) in risk management
Smoking trends and educational level in Italy in the age group 20-24, from 1950 to 2000
No full textSmoking represents an important world research issue because of its diffusion among people and its effects on health. This study analyses, according to gender and educational level, the prevalence of smoking, in order to highlight the relationship between sociocultural status and smoking. Prevalence was calculated, with reference to Italian national data in 2000, by dividing a weighted population of 38,720,629 into 10 five-year birth cohorts. Results suggest that smoking is no longer perceived as being socially acceptable behavior. The prevalence declines for both sexes and educational levels, but in low educational levels the decline is slower. The study limitations are noted
Indagine sulle abitudini alimentari in una popolazione giovanile della Sardegna Meridionale
No full text
The Italian national trends in smoking initiation and cessation according to gender and education
No full textObjectives. This study aims to assess the trend in initiation and
cessation of smoking across successive birth cohorts, according
to gender and education, in order to provide useful suggestion
for tobacco control policy.
Study design. The study is based on data from the “Health
conditions and resort to sanitary services” survey carried out
in Italy from October 2004 to September 2005 by the National
Institute of Statistics. Through a multisampling procedure
a sample representative of the entire national territory was
selected.
Methods. In order to calculate trends in smoking initiation and
cessation, data were stratified for birth cohorts, gender and education
level, and analyzed through the life table method.
Results. The cumulative probability of smoking initiation, across
subsequent generations, shows a downward trend followed by
a plateau. This result highlights that there is not a shred of
evidence to support the hypothesis of an anticipation in smoking
initiation. The cumulative probability of quitting, across
subsequent generations, follows an upward trend, highlighting
the growing tendency of smokers to become an “early quitter”,
who give up within 30 years of age.
Conclusion. Results suggest that the Italian antismoking
approach, for the most part targeted at preventing the initiation
of smoking emphasising the negative consequences, has an effect
on the early smoking cessation. Health policies should reinforce
the existing trend of “early quitting” through specific actions. In
addition our results show that men with low education exhibit
the higher probability of smoking initiation and the lower probability
of early quitting, and therefore should be targeted with
special attention
Smoking trends in Italy from 1950 to 2000
No full textSTUDY OBJECTIVE:
To assess how the prevalence of smokers in Italy from 1950 to 2000 has changed, in parallel with law development and the growing attention towards smoking prevention.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:
Historical data on smoking trends have been obtained using data collected in 2000 by the National Institute of Statistics. A correction coefficient is proposed to overcome the bias of differential mortality reported in other papers. The sample is made up of 102 261 people aged 15-69 years.
MAIN RESULTS:
A general downward trend is seen; there is a more pronounced decrease starting from 1975 to 1980. In both sexes the peak prevalence tends to decrease according to the birth cohort because of the earlier age in which they gave up. A partial exception to the decline of tobacco use in recent years may be made for the 15-19 year-old age group, which has remained stable since 1990.
CONCLUSIONS:
Although a comprehensive community programme against tobacco was not developed, the different prevention actions implemented in Italy have contributed to a change in attitude and behaviour. The effect of tobacco control strategies implemented in Italy until now is more evident in relation to the breaking of the smoking habit, which happens at an increasingly younger age, although it is not clear how much it is able to prevent people from starting smoking
- …
