A Study to Assess the Knowledge regarding Climate Change and it’s Impact on Health Among People of Selected Areas in Mehsana District.

 

Dr. Dayalal Patidar¹, Mr. Chirag Patel²

¹Principal, Joitiba College of Nursing, Bhandu. Dist: Mehsana.

²Final Year, M.Sc. Nursing Student, Joitiba College of Nursing, Bhandu, Dist: Mehsana.

 

ABSTRACT:

Introduction: Human beings are at the interface of physical, geological and biological processes of the earth and any fundamental global environmental change, affecting these systems will have a drastic impact on human health in various ways. Climate parameters play an influential role as one of the a biotic factors of the environment around us. Any change in climate parameters will therefore impart a change directly or indirectly on human well being.¹ Objectives: 1.To assess the knowledge regarding climate change and its impact on health among people. 2. To find out the association between knowledge with their selected demographic variable. Participants: 100 People. Research Design: Probability simple random sampling technique. Interventions: Planned teaching program was given to people. Tool: Self-Structured Knowledge Questionnaire was used to assess the level of Knowledge among people. Results: In this study overall the highest percentage in the demographic data including the age group 66% (39-48), Gender 76% (Female), Religion 70 %( Hindu), Type of family 62% (Joint), Educational status 48% (Graduate), Occupation 38% (Unemployed), Monthly income 39% (Below 5000) Do you have any health history due to climate changes 90%(No) and awareness programme on climate changes 90% (No).09% of sample had poor knowledge score (0-8), 87% of them had average knowledge score (09-16) and 04% of them had good knowledge score(17-25) regarding climate change and its impact on health. Chi-square test used to associate the level of knowledge and attitude with selected demographic variable at 0.05 level of significant. Conclusion:  The findings of the study revealed that people have average Knowledge regarding climate change and its impact on health.

 

 

 

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:

“Planning without action is Futile, Action without planning is Fatal.”

                                                           Cornelius Fichtner

 

There is a growing concern among health officials and policy makers about climate change and its potential impact on the environment and human health. The potential impact of climate change on population health is enormous and is expected to worsen unless efforts are made to curb the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

 

 

Climate change affects human health and wellbeing in several ways, notably by increasing the distribution and transmission of several vector-borne infectious diseases, including malaria, dengue and leishmaniasis, and diseases related to heat stress, by increasing losses of human lives, livestock and property through severe floods and droughts, and by reducing the availability of water for domestic uses, sanitation levels, as well as losses in food production, biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

 

Climate-linked shortages of domestic water supplies can negatively affect personal hygiene and environmental sanitation, increasing diarrheal, skin and eye diseases.

 

According to the World Health Organization, the impact of recent climate change has already caused the loss of 150,000 human lives and about 5 million DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) throughout the world. Accelerating demographic, social, economic, environmental and ecological changes as a result of increasing globalization and the inability of many developing countries and their populations to make the necessary adaption changes to mitigate the effect of climate change renders India particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Climate change thus presents a new face and a challenging scenario in the battle to improve global health overall and health in India in particular.

 

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

A study to assess the knowledge regarding climate change and it’s impact on health among people of selected areas in Mehsana district.               

 

OBJECTIVES:

1.     To assess the knowledge regarding climate change and its impact on health among people.

2.     To find out the association between knowledge with their selected demographic variable.

 

ASSUMPTIONS:

I. People may have some knowledge regarding climate change and its impact on health.

II. Selected variables like age, gender, type of family, religion, educational qualification, occupation and monthly income will influence the knowledge of people regarding climate change and its impact on health.

 

METHODOLOGY:

An evaluative research approach was adopted for this study. The research design selected was Probability simple random sampling technique. The study was conducted in Mehsana district. Data collection done after obtaining permission from authority. prepared tool was validated by different experts.

 

RESULT:

In this study overall the highest percentage in the demographic data including the age group 66% (39-48), Gender 76% (Female), Religion 70 %( Hindu), Type of family 62% (Joint), Educational status 48% (Graduate), Occupation 38% (Unemployed), Monthly income 39% (Below 5000) Do you have any health history due to climate changes 90%(No) and awareness programme on climate changes 90%(No).09% of sample had poor knowledge score (0-8),87% of them had average knowledge score(09-16) and 04% of them had good knowledge score(17-25) regarding climate change and its impact on health. Chi-square test used to associate the level of knowledge and attitude with selected demographic variable at 0.05 level of significant.

 

Analysis and Interpretation of Data:

 

Table- 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of pre-test knowledge score of people.

Level of knowledge	Pre-test
	F	%
Poor	09	09%
Average	87	87%
Good	04	04%

 

Knowledge Scale	MEAN	S.D.	MEAN PERCENTAGE
PRE TEST	11.59	2.46	46.36%

 

CONCLUSION:

It is deal with the analysis and interpretation of the data collected from 100 people. Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The analysis has been organized and presented under various section like a description of the demographic variable, description of pre-test and post-test knowledge score, and the association between the pre-test knowledge score and selected demographic variable.

 

REFERENCES:

1.     Achanta A N (1993), “An Assessment of the Potential Impact of Global Warming on Indian Rice Production”, The Climate Change Agenda: An Indian Perspective, Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi.

2.     Bhaskar Rao D V, Naidu C V and Srinivas Rao B R (2001), “Trends and Fluctuations of the Cyclonic Systems Over North Indian Ocean”, Mausam, No. 52, pp. 37-46.

 

 

 

Received on 12.12.2020          Modified on 03.01.2021

Accepted on 24.01.2021      ©A&V Publications All right reserved