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An Education Initiative Concerning Lead in an Arkansas Community: Results from Pre- and Post-Surveys

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Abstract

The Arkansas People Participating in Lead Education (APPLE) Program is a collaborative effort between six Arkansas state, national and community organizations to provide lead awareness, training, and municipal legislation to needy communities in Arkansas. Under this program, APPLE organized and hosted well-designed, hands-on, and effective “call to action” lead awareness workshops for parents and community members in 10 needy communities over a 2 year period. Pre- and post-surveys were given to community members to access knowledge, attitudes and effectiveness of lead workshop activities, with demographic and another 13 and 11 questions on pre- and post-surveys, respectively. There were 709 adult attendees across the 10 workshop (Many children also attended.), with 460 completing pre-surveys, and 199 completed post-survey. Post-surveys were limited to four cities. The majority of those who completed surveys were African-American, reported as 78% on pre-surveys, with the majority also being parents (61%) and females. Although, 71% reported knowing that lead paint was bad for their health, more than 60% reported knowing little about lead exposure, and another 25% did not know the age of their residence. On the post-surveys, the majority of respondents found the workshop to be pleasant and informative (98%), while 45% had changed something in their lives to prevent lead exposure for a child and another 53% planned to make a change to prevent lead exposure for a child.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Slot #820, Little Rock, AR, 72205-7199, USA

    Alesia Ferguson

  2. Arkansas State HIPPY Program (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters), Little Rock, AR, USA

    Barbara Gilkey

  3. Air Division, Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Little Rock, AR, USA

    David Kern

  4. Spellman University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Davis Jasmine

Authors
  1. Alesia Ferguson
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  2. Barbara Gilkey
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  3. David Kern
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  4. Davis Jasmine
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alesia Ferguson.

Appendices

Appendix 1: APPLE Education Workshop Pre-Survey

 

Appendix 2: APPLE Education Workshop Post-Survey

 

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Ferguson, A., Gilkey, B., Kern, D. et al. An Education Initiative Concerning Lead in an Arkansas Community: Results from Pre- and Post-Surveys. J Community Health 37, 599–609 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-011-9490-3

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