TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring community psychosocial stress related to per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination
T2 - Lessons learned from a qualitative study
AU - Calloway, Eric E.
AU - Chiappone, Alethea L.
AU - Schmitt, Harrison J.
AU - Sullivan, Daniel
AU - Gerhardstein, Ben
AU - Tucker, Pamela G.
AU - Rayman, Jamie
AU - Yaroch, Amy L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure experience and associated stressors, to inform public health efforts to support psychosocial health and resilience in affected communities. Semi-structured interviews (n = 9) were conducted from July–September 2019 with community members and state public health department representatives from areas with PFAS-contaminated drinking water. Thematic analysis was completed and themes were described and summarized. Reported stressors included health concerns and uncertainty, institutional delegitimization and associated distrust, and financial burdens. Interviewees provided several strategies to reduce stress and promote stress coping capacity and resilience, including showing empathy and validating the normalcy of experiencing stress; building trust through visible action and sustained community engagement; providing information and actionable guidance; discussing stress carefully; fostering stress coping capacity and resilience with opportunities to build social capital and restore agency; and building capacity among government agencies and health care providers to address psychosocial stress. While communities affected by PFAS contamination will face unavoidable stressors, positive interactions with government responders and health care providers may help reduce negative stress. More research on how best to integrate community psychosocial health and stress coping and resilience concepts into the public health response to environmental contamination could be helpful in addressing these stressors.
AB - The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure experience and associated stressors, to inform public health efforts to support psychosocial health and resilience in affected communities. Semi-structured interviews (n = 9) were conducted from July–September 2019 with community members and state public health department representatives from areas with PFAS-contaminated drinking water. Thematic analysis was completed and themes were described and summarized. Reported stressors included health concerns and uncertainty, institutional delegitimization and associated distrust, and financial burdens. Interviewees provided several strategies to reduce stress and promote stress coping capacity and resilience, including showing empathy and validating the normalcy of experiencing stress; building trust through visible action and sustained community engagement; providing information and actionable guidance; discussing stress carefully; fostering stress coping capacity and resilience with opportunities to build social capital and restore agency; and building capacity among government agencies and health care providers to address psychosocial stress. While communities affected by PFAS contamination will face unavoidable stressors, positive interactions with government responders and health care providers may help reduce negative stress. More research on how best to integrate community psychosocial health and stress coping and resilience concepts into the public health response to environmental contamination could be helpful in addressing these stressors.
KW - Community engagement
KW - Environmental contamination
KW - Mental health
KW - Psychosocial stress
KW - Public health response
KW - Stress coping capacity
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph17238706
DO - 10.3390/ijerph17238706
M3 - Article
C2 - 33255157
AN - SCOPUS:85096605087
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 17
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 23
M1 - 8706
ER -