Farmers' Preventive Behavior Analysis Against Sunlight Using the Health Belief Model: A Study from Iran

Barriers to rural women's participation in social insurance for farmers, villagers, and nomads: the case of Iran

Introduction

Since the enactment of the Law of Comprehensive Structure for Social Welfare and Security in Iran, only a small fraction of its target has been accomplished and a significant part of rural women have not been covered by the social insurance service yet. A few studies have been conducted on the social insurance of rural people. However, no study has ever addressed the issue of women with a focus on the theoretical aspects of sociology science, which is the contribution of the present research. Therefore, the present research aimed to explore the barriers to rural women's participation in social insurance.

Methods

The research adopted a qualitative approach and the grounded theory method. It was conducted among the brokers of social insurance for farmers, villagers, and nomads in Iran. Data were collected through interviews.

Results and Discussion

The results showed that the barriers to women's participation in social insurance were economic (e.g., women's economic dependence on the family head), social (e.g., low social trust, low literacy and awareness of rural women, and limitations imposed by religious doctrine), cultural (e.g., limited social communications, limited use of technology, and poor insurance culture), legal (e.g., poor legal support for rural women's insurance and non-satisfaction of expectations from the fund services), and institutional (e.g., inefficient advertisement methods and poor awareness-raising measures).

Skin Cancer-Related Health Behavior Interventions in the Context of the Health Belief Model

The incidence of skin cancer is increasing around the world every year. Although there are many reasons for the occurrence of skin cancer, UV radiation caused by sunlight is seen as the most important factor. Therefore, reducing exposure to UV radiation should be a top priority for skin cancer prevention. In addition, different demographic features also affect the amount of UV exposure. These include age, gender and professional groups. On the other hand, people can be exposed to UV radiation voluntarily. Sunbathing or using tanning devices can be shown as examples for this. For these reasons, interventions to reduce exposure to UV radiation should focus on demographic features and the desire to tan. At the same time, it is emphasized in the literature that theory-based and systematic interventions are more effective than others. In this context, we think that the Health Belief Model, which is an effective psychosocial model for health behaviors, will be useful in developing sun protection behaviors. In this review, interventions based on the Health Belief Model in the context of tanning behavior, age, gender, and outdoor activities for the prevention of skin cancer and the improvement of sun protection behaviors have been discussed.

Typology of Iranian farmers' vulnerability to the COVID-19 outbreak

Context

Presently, farmers are faced with a new crisis caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. On the one hand, they are vulnerable to such respiratory diseases due to the nature of their farming activity. On the other hand, they will definitely be influenced by the pandemic in different aspects no matter if they do not contract the infection. So, this research aimed to study the vulnerability of farmers to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

The present study was conducted using the quantitative approach and a descriptive-survey methodology. The statistical population was composed of farmers in Kermanshah province, Iran (N = 126,900). The sample (n = 382) was taken by the multistage stratified sampling technique with proportional allocation. The research instrument was a self-designed questionnaire whose face and content validity was confirmed by a panel of relevant experts and its reliability was supported in a pilot test.

Results

The main damages of the pandemic to the farmers were found to be the increased costs of production, permanent or seasonal unemployment, reduced access to crop sale markets, and reduced control over pests and diseases at farms. The results revealed that the means of environmental, agronomic-vocational, and economic vulnerability were greater than the scale mean. The results also illustrated significant differences in the means of economic, psychological-social, agronomic-vocational, and environmental dimensions of vulnerability. Among these dimensions, the variable of agronomic-vocational vulnerability had the highest mean, and the variable of psychological-social vulnerability had the lowest mean.

Conclusion

Farmers have been one of the groups most severely influenced and damaged by the pandemic in various aspects. In this regard, organizations and institutions in charge of different agriculture sections, especially the Office of Agricultural Extension and Education, must develop practical strategies to reduce the effect of the pandemic on the agricultural sector. Identifying the dimensions and parameters of farmers' vulnerability in the face of COVID-19 can provide new and appropriate solutions to relevant planners and policymakers.

Hearing protection behavior of farmers in Iran: Application of the protection motivation theory

BACKGROUND: Noise in work environments is regarded as a serious issue. Hearing loss leads to socio-economic problems and huge costs to families and communities. Agriculture is one of the professions in which individuals face occupational noise. Farmers are the second leading group in suffering from hearing loss in the world. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to predict the hearing protection behavior of farmers by using the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). METHOD: This descriptive study was conducted through a survey. The questionnaire was the main tool for data collection. The population of the study consisted of wheat farmers in Kermanshah province (N = 126,900). By using Krejcie and Morgan’s table and stratified random sampling method, 382 farmers were taken as the research sample. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the experts of this field, and the reliability was proved through a pilot study to calculate Cronbach’s alpha. RESULTS: The findings showed that perceived self-efficacy, perceived response efficacy, perceived vulnerability, and perceived response costs had the strongest effects on farmers’ motivation to protect their hearing, respectively. Furthermore, protection motivation had a significant effect on farmers’ protection behavior. CONCLUSION: Threat and coping appraisals as cognitive mediating processes determined farmers’ behavior for hearing protection. The results illustrated that the components of PMT were appropriate predictors of farmers’ hearing protection behavior.

The role of farmers’ green values in creation of green innovative intention and green technology adoption behavior: Evidence from farmers grain green production

Grain for Green Project (GGP) is one of China’s important ecological restoration projects. The key rationale of this Program is to decrease soil erosion and develop ecological conditions. The agricultural sector is putting efforts to promote green innovation and production among farmers to achieve the targets of ecological restoration projects. However, farmers’ green values could play a constructive role in building green innovative intention and green technology adoption behaviors. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), the present study investigates the association between farmers’ green values and green technology adoption behavior. For empirical investigation, the current study assumes that farmers’ green values positively correlate with green innovative intention and green technology adoption behavior, respectively. Further, this study proposes that green innovative intention positively impacts green technology adoption behavior. The present study also aims to determine the mediating role of green innovative intention in the relationship between farmer green values and green technology adoption behavior. This study also attempts to check the moderating role of health consciousness in the relationship between farmer green values and green innovative intention and the relationship between farmer green values and green technology adoption behavior, respectively. For empirical analyses, the present study gathered data from303 farmers in China through a structured questionnaire method using a convenient sampling technique. The present study applied partial least square structural equation modeling for empirically examining hypotheses using Smart PLS software. The findings confirmed that farmers’ green values have a positive association with green innovative intention and green technology adoption behavior, respectively. The results further verified that green innovative intention positively correlates with green technology adoption behavior. The finding also authenticated that green innovative intention positively mediates the relationship between farmers’ green values and green technology adoption behavior. The moderating role of health consciousness in the relationship between farmers’ green values and green innovative intention is also confirmed by the results of this study. However, the findings revealed that health consciousness does not moderate the relationship between farmers’ green values and green technology adoption behavior. This study’s findings serve the literature by providing empirical insight on the importance of farmers’ green values for green innovative intention and green technology adoption behavior. Moreover, the findings also have important theoretical and practical implications.

Pointers to Interventions for Promoting COVID-19 Protective Measures in Tourism: A Modelling Approach Using Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale, Theory of Planned Behaviour, and Health Belief Model

Based on the factors of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the Health Belief Model (HBM), and the DOSPERT scale, used to measure general risk-taking behaviour, a combined model has been developed for investigating tourists’ intentions to implement protective measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The purpose of the study is to formulate a model that Swiss tourism practitioners can use to understand tourists’ decision-making regarding the acceptance and proper implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). A large-scale cross-sectional population study that is representative for the Swiss population has been designed to validate the model (N = 1,683; 39% response rate). In our empirical investigation, a simple regression analysis is used to detect significant factors and their strength. Our empirical findings show that the significant effects can be ordered regarding descending effect size from severity (HBM), attitude (TPB), perceived behavioural control (TPB), subjective norm (TPB), self-efficacy (HBM), and perceived barriers (HBM) to susceptibility (HBM). Based on this information, intervention strategies and corresponding protective measures were linked to the social-psychological factors based on an expert workshop. Low-cost interventions for tourists (less time, less money, and more comfort), such as the free provision of accessories (free mask and sanitizers) or free testing (at cable cars), can increase the perceived behavioural control and lower the perceived barriers and thus increase the acceptance of this protective measure.

Determining Skin Cancer Protective Behaviors in the Light of the Protection Motivation Theory among Sailors in Bandar-Bushehr in the South of Iran

Background:

Skin cancer is among the most prevalent cancers in Iran and worldwide. Due to the nature of work, sailors are constantly exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun, which in the long run damages their skin and raises the chances of skin cancer. Thus, the present research aimed to predict the skin cancer protective behaviors among sailors in the south of Iran in the light of the protection motivation theory.

Materials and Methods:

The present analytical, cross-sectional research was conducted on 360 sailors in Bandar-Bushehr selected randomly from 4 border healthcare centers. To collect the required data, a reliable and valid questionnaire based on the protection motivation theory was used. The data were analyzed in SPSS21 using descriptive and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis.

Results:

Pearson correlation coefficient showed a statistically significant positive correlation between protection motivation, perceived severity, fear, reward on the one hand and a statistically significant negative correlation between protection motivation and rewards and response costs. All constructs of protection motivation explained 43% of the variance of skin cancer protective behaviors. Among the influential predictors, perceived self-efficacy showed to be the strongest (β=0.328).

Conclusion:

Considering the effectiveness of the protection motivation theory in determining skin cancer preventive behaviors among sailors, it can be concluded that this theory can be used as a framework in planning health education and promotion programs to motivate sailors to adopt more skin cancer protective behaviors.

The Process Of Farmers' Occupational Health Behavior by Health Belief Model: Evidence From Iran

Farm work is considered among the highest risk jobs throughout the world. Occupational health behavior is a critical factor that influences agricultural job-related injuries and diseases. Yet, while educational programs have been set up to encourage farmers to behave more safely, many of these programs do not sufficiently take into account the factors that induce farmers to exhibit risky behavior. The present study aimed to explore the factors underpinning farmers' occupational health behavior using the Health Belief Model (HBM). The study was conducted using aquestionnaire survey of 382 farmers representative of the farmers of Kermanshah province, Iran. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by apanel of experts in occupational health, and its reliability by apilot study establishing internal consistency measured by Cronbach's alpha. The results showed that four dimensions of the HBM (perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, cues to action, and perceived self-efficacy) influence farmers' occupational health behavior (FOHB), with the theoretical model accounting for 54.9% of the variance of FOHB. The findings confirm the potential of the HBM to explain FOHB and the relevance of using the theory in studying farmers' protective behaviors such as the use of chemical pesticides, protection against sunlight, protection of hearing, etc.