Factors motivating the use of respiratory protection against volcanic ashfall: A comparative analysis of communities in Japan, Indonesia and Mexico

Study of risk perceptions and use of respiratory protection conducted on 2003 residents affected by volcanoes from 3 countries

Abstract

Communities living near active volcanoes may be exposed to respiratory hazards from volcanic ash. Understanding their perception of the risks and the actions they take to mitigate against those risks is important for developing effective communication strategies. To investigate this issue, the first comparative study of risk perceptions and use of respiratory protection was conducted on 2003 residents affected by active volcanoes from 3 countries: Japan (Sakurajima volcano), Indonesia (Merapi and Kelud volcanoes) and Mexico (Popocatépetl volcano). The study was designed to test the explanatory value of a theoretical framework which hypothesized that use of respiratory protection (i.e., facemask) would be motivated by two cognitive constructs from protection motivation theory: threat appraisal (i.e., perceptions of harm/ worry about ash inhalation) and coping appraisal (i.e., beliefs about mask efficacy).

This research is part of the ‘Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC)’ programme.

Citation

Judith Covey, Claire J. Horwell, Laksmi Rachmawati, Ryoichi Ogawa, Ana Lillian Martin-del Pozzo, Maria Aurora Armienta, Fentiny Nugroho, Lena Dominelli (2019) Factors motivating the use of respiratory protection against volcanic ashfall: A comparative analysis of communities in Japan, Indonesia and Mexico, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101066

Factors motivating the use of respiratory protection against volcanic ashfall: A comparative analysis of communities in Japan, Indonesia and Mexico

Updates to this page

Published 16 January 2019