Radon programmes and health marketing

Abstract

Being aware of negative health effects of radon exposure, many countries aim for the reduction of the radon exposure of their population. The Czech radon programme was commenced >20 y ago. Since then experts have gathered a lot of knowledge, necessary legislation has been enacted, tens of thousands of inhabitants have been offered free measurement and subsidy for the mitigation. Despite the effort, the effectiveness of the radon programme seems to be poor. Newly built houses still exhibit elevated radon concentrations and the number of houses mitigated is very low. Is it possible to enhance the effectivity of radon programme while keeping it on a voluntary basis? One possible way is to employ health marketing that draws together traditional marketing theories and science-based strategies to prevention. The potential of using marketing principles in communication and delivery of radon information will be discussed.

A Systematic Review of Radon Risk Perception, Awareness, and Knowledge: Risk Communication Options

“…These studies are more comprehensive in that they systematically address the risk posed by radon, smoking, and second-hand smoke, both separately and in synergy, and address the entire cycle of radon prevention and management, from knowledge to awareness, risk perception, testing, and remediation, and also address learning from experience, empowerment, and training [50][51][52][53][54][55]. Nine articles were based on research in the European Union [30,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63], including four from Italy [59][60][61][62], and ten from the rest of the world [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73], including four from Canada [70][71][72][73] and two from Turkey [64,66]. As shown in Figure 3, there was an increasing trend in the number of articles published in the last decade, which highlights the growth of this research field.…”

“…Within the survey studies, the sample size varied between a maximum of 6653 [77] persons involved and a minimum of 35 [71]. The studies used quantitative [30,[49][50][51][52]54,57,60,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]74,75,[77][78][79][80][81][82], qualitative [56,72,83], and mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies [62,73,84,85], and some were aimed at evaluating an intervention [52,53] or a risk communication tool [63,86]. The qualitative method can enable researchers to go deeper into understanding the individual and collective factors influencing risk perception and capture subjective and objective aspects of radon risk perception, communication, and willingness to address the problem.…”

“…The population included was an interesting element to observe. Twenty articles reported data on the general population [30,49,52,[57][58][59][61][62][63]65,66,70,71,[75][76][77][78]80,81,84], in two cases as part of a radon testing program [53,78], in one case among people interested in testing [70], in one case together with a group of experts [79], and in one case with a group of home buyers [56]. Ownership was an important element, as radon risk remediation actions should be the direct responsibility of the owners, and in some countries, information on the presence of radon in the home was part of the requirements for marketing houses [49].…”

“…Ownership was an important element, as radon risk remediation actions should be the direct responsibility of the owners, and in some countries, information on the presence of radon in the home was part of the requirements for marketing houses [49]. For this reason, home sellers [83], home buyers [56], homeowners [50,54], and homeowners with tenants [51,70,72,73] were interviewed, in one case to carry out radon tests and a medical check [51]. The health protection sector was considered as a player in the dissemination of information to patients, as an actor in prevention, and as responsible for the ability to identify risk factors and a means of prevention.…”

Health risk of radon exposure

“…Conform literaturii de specialitate, în natură se cunosc circa 340 de radionuclizi, însă nu toți posedă proprietăți radioactive, doar circa 70 dintre aceștia care apar în mod natural, fiind izotopi ai elementelor grele (3). Acești radionuclizi pot fi clasificați, în funcție de origine, în radionuclizi primordiali, a căror timp de înjumătățire este estimativ mai mare decât timpul scurs de la formarea Pământului radionuclizii cosmogeni, ce se formează în urma interacțiunii radiației cosmice cu anumiți atomi țintă în atmosferă sau la nivelul scoarței terestre și radionuclizi derivați din activitatea umană prin intermediul unor procese de exploatare generându-se materiale TENORM (technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials) (4,6,7). În condițiile unei influențe continue asupra organismului apare necesitatea instituirii unui sistem permanent de monitorizare și de supraveghere a nivelului de fond al radioactivității.…”