Perception of risk to health from environmental factors amongst the Mohawks of Akwesasne

Abstract

A survey of perceptions of health risk was conducted on 297 randomly selected residents of Akwesasne, a Mohawk community of approximately 13,000 citizens, straddling the border between Canada and the United States. The survey was conducted to understand how residents of Akwesasne perceive different types of health risks, and how attitudes about such risks are formed. Survey questions focused on association to the words risk and health, ranking of health hazards present in the community, sources of information on health risks, confidence in organizations and agencies responsible for health risk management, and a series of questions on risk related attitudes and behaviours. The survey demonstrated higher perceptions of risk among older as compared to younger respondents, and among women as compared to men. The media represented the primary source of information on risk, followed by traditional healers, although traditional healers were perceived as being more credible than the media.