A systematic review of the effectiveness of environmental awareness interventions.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and summarize evidence on the effectiveness of interventions available to public health staff regarding the protection of the public from environmental risks.


METHODS
This systematic review involved a comprehensive literature search, screening for relevance, quality assessment of relevant studies, data extraction and synthesis.


RESULTS
Fourteen of 65 relevant studies were of 'moderate' or 'strong' quality. Intervention types in these 14 studies included: mass campaign, counselling, school curriculum, educational sessions, and distribution of printed materials. Short-term improvements in awareness or knowledge were observed in 13 of the 14 studies. Eight of 13 studies that examined behavioural outcomes observed short-term improvements in self-reported behavioural outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Positive short-term changes in health-protective awareness, knowledge and self-reported behaviour appear to be associated with relatively intensive interventions that use multiple methods and settings, and/or are delivered over multiple sessions.
Campbell
M
M
Health Promotion & Environmental Protection, Toronto Public Health, ON. mcampbe2@city.toronto.on.ca
Buckeridge
D
D
Dwyer
J
J
Fong
S
S
Mann
V
V
Sanchez-Sweatman
O
O
Stevens
A
A
Fung
L
L
D001364:Awareness; D002170:Canada; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011635:Public Health Administration; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care