Abstract

Older housing stock is one suspected cause of poor indoor air quality and poor indoor air quality can cause many negative health conditions. Four hazardous conditions related to indoor air quality were examined for this study: lead, asbestos, dampness causing mold and radon. North Minneapolis residents, specifically low-income, disproportionately live in older stock houses and have higher rates of asthma compared to other parts of the state. In this study, data was collected to understand North Minneapolis residents' knowledge and awareness of indoor air quality in older residences. Fifteen minute interviews followed by a brief sociodemographic questionnaire were used to explore North Minneapolis residents' level of knowledge and awareness. The results suggest a lack of awareness and knowledge around indoor air quality as well as its causes and effects. Most of the participants wanted more information on how to test their indoor air quality and simple things that could be done to improve it. Recommendations for health education specialists include providing and promoting education on indoor air quality. This would include ways to test and to improve indoor air quality. Health educators could also help residents and neighborhood organizations with grant applications to replace older hazardous materials.

Advisor

Judith K. Leubke

Committee Member

Amy S. Hedman

Committee Member

Mark Windschitl

Date of Degree

2016

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Health Science

College

Allied Health and Nursing

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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