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Public understanding of food risks in four European countries: a qualitative study
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UNSPECIFIED (2005) Public understanding of food risks in four European countries: a qualitative study. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 15 (5). pp. 523-527. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki016
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cki016
Abstract
Background: In the wake of the ` bovine spongiform encephalopathy ( BSE) crisis' there was renewed interest in how those responsible for public health could take account of public views, both to ` democratize' policy making and to increase the likelihood of information about health risks resonating with public concerns. This study explored how members of the public in four European countries ( Finland, Germany, Italy and the UK) understood food risks in general, and risks arising from BSE in particular. The aims were to identify the sources of knowledge used and trusted by the public and to explore how public views could be accessed for public health information policy.
Methods: Thirty- six focus group interviews were held using a common protocol across the four countries, including people from four lifecycle stages.
Results: The study demonstrated the utility of using focus groups as a relatively efficient method for accessing public views, and the feasibility of cross- national qualitative research on public views. We found that public views of food risks are neither irrational nor naive, but that they do need to be interpreted in the context of everyday food purchasing decisions, in which particular food risks are unlikely to have the same salience as they do for experts.
Conclusions: Focus groups are a feasible method for accessing public knowledge on public health risks to inform information strategies.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH | ||||
| Publisher: | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | ||||
| ISSN: | 1101-1262 | ||||
| Official Date: | October 2005 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 15 | ||||
| Number: | 5 | ||||
| Number of Pages: | 5 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 523-527 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1093/eurpub/cki016 | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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