Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS)
A Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) is a complex natural event that occurs when algae is in its growth stage and creates a harmful toxin as waste. HABs create both ecologic and public health challenges. The hypothesis of this thesis is that state and federal governments have different readability scores whe...
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ftunivsouthcar:oai:scholarcommons.sc.edu:etd-7096 2024-04-28T08:35:01+00:00 Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) King, Jaron Hoani 2021-04-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6382 https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/context/etd/article/7096/viewcontent/King_sc_0202M_17355_1_.pdf English eng Scholar Commons https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6382 https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/context/etd/article/7096/viewcontent/King_sc_0202M_17355_1_.pdf © 2021, Jaron Hoani King Theses and Dissertations Environmental Health HAB Harmful Algal Bloom Health Communication Health Promotion Public Health text 2021 ftunivsouthcar 2024-04-03T14:12:50Z A Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) is a complex natural event that occurs when algae is in its growth stage and creates a harmful toxin as waste. HABs create both ecologic and public health challenges. The hypothesis of this thesis is that state and federal governments have different readability scores when compared side-by-side as measured by Simple Measures of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Because governments are the entity that most often claims responsibility for shared resources, this case study represents a snapshot of current governmental messaging about HABs in the South Atlantic states. These states have a long history of HAB events in both fresh and marine water environments. Intense urbanization, nutrient loading, increasing water temperatures, and ocean acidification have all contributed to increased recorded HAB events in recent years. As this region continues to face booming population growth, the issue of HABs will continue to play a role in the development and exploitation of coastal communities. The scientific community often grapples with the difficulties of disseminating evidence-based messaging to a lay public audience. One emerging field in environmental health sciences is environmental health literacy (EHL). As a discipline, EHL rests between environmental science and health communication. Sources for this online content analysis were obtained using a targeted search of both South Atlantic state websites and federal agencies concerned with HABs and their effects on human health. 90 webpages were identified from state (n=38) federal agencies (n=42), as well as non-governmental organizations (n=10). The average SMOG score of all 90 sources is an 11th grade reading level (10.7) with a standard deviation of 2.78. This content analysis reflects the complexity of scientific communication. However, as evaluation and improvement are the final steps in any public health programming, evaluation needs to be undertaken in all EHL programming in order to properly protect the public from known toxicologic and ... Text Ocean acidification University of South Carolina Libraries: Scholar Commons |
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University of South Carolina Libraries: Scholar Commons |
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ftunivsouthcar |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Health HAB Harmful Algal Bloom Health Communication Health Promotion Public Health |
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Environmental Health HAB Harmful Algal Bloom Health Communication Health Promotion Public Health King, Jaron Hoani Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) |
topic_facet |
Environmental Health HAB Harmful Algal Bloom Health Communication Health Promotion Public Health |
description |
A Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) is a complex natural event that occurs when algae is in its growth stage and creates a harmful toxin as waste. HABs create both ecologic and public health challenges. The hypothesis of this thesis is that state and federal governments have different readability scores when compared side-by-side as measured by Simple Measures of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Because governments are the entity that most often claims responsibility for shared resources, this case study represents a snapshot of current governmental messaging about HABs in the South Atlantic states. These states have a long history of HAB events in both fresh and marine water environments. Intense urbanization, nutrient loading, increasing water temperatures, and ocean acidification have all contributed to increased recorded HAB events in recent years. As this region continues to face booming population growth, the issue of HABs will continue to play a role in the development and exploitation of coastal communities. The scientific community often grapples with the difficulties of disseminating evidence-based messaging to a lay public audience. One emerging field in environmental health sciences is environmental health literacy (EHL). As a discipline, EHL rests between environmental science and health communication. Sources for this online content analysis were obtained using a targeted search of both South Atlantic state websites and federal agencies concerned with HABs and their effects on human health. 90 webpages were identified from state (n=38) federal agencies (n=42), as well as non-governmental organizations (n=10). The average SMOG score of all 90 sources is an 11th grade reading level (10.7) with a standard deviation of 2.78. This content analysis reflects the complexity of scientific communication. However, as evaluation and improvement are the final steps in any public health programming, evaluation needs to be undertaken in all EHL programming in order to properly protect the public from known toxicologic and ... |
format |
Text |
author |
King, Jaron Hoani |
author_facet |
King, Jaron Hoani |
author_sort |
King, Jaron Hoani |
title |
Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) |
title_short |
Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) |
title_full |
Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) |
title_fullStr |
Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS) |
title_sort |
health communication blindspot: a case study of harmful algal blooms in the south (habits) |
publisher |
Scholar Commons |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6382 https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/context/etd/article/7096/viewcontent/King_sc_0202M_17355_1_.pdf |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Theses and Dissertations |
op_relation |
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6382 https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/context/etd/article/7096/viewcontent/King_sc_0202M_17355_1_.pdf |
op_rights |
© 2021, Jaron Hoani King |
_version_ |
1797591493291016192 |