CARD surveys seek opinions on asbestos issues
Nearly 400 surveys have returned to the Center for Asbestos Related Disease following the mailing on Feb. 22 of 1,100 surveys to community households and 100 to CARD patients as part of The Voices of Libby Project.
The surveys are documenting how asbestos issues are affecting the community and members within the community, what views are most common regarding asbestos issues and what influences how people react to asbestos issues in terms of their own beliefs and behaviors, according to Dr. Brad Black, director of the CARD clinic.
The 1,200 recipients of the survey were randomly selected to “reach varying groups of people,” Black said. Survey responses are confidential. CARD is working in conjunction with the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Mich. and the Lincoln County Campus of Flathead Valley Community College.
Dr. Rebecca Kline, a senior scientist for the Karmanos Cancer Institute, is the principal investigator on the survey. Kline first became involved in Libby asbestos research in 2005 and focus groups were formed in 2006 to “understand how people process information about asbestos,” Kline explained. “It wasn't just about Libby, but all over the country.”
Kline worked with CARD Drs. Black and Alan Whitehouse in the 2006 focus groups. Her focus is on slow-motion technological disasters, such as the one in Libby.
“People [in Libby] have experienced it in a pretty profound way and it helps to understand how people process the information,” Kline said. “We wanted to understand how people respond and how they think and respond to each other.”
The focus groups became a very rich way to collect data, Kline explained. The groups produced diverse points of view.
“We want to learn things to help people in Libby and other slow-motion disasters around the country,” Kline added.
Continuing the relationship between Karmanos and CARD and now with the FVCC in Libby, the 1,200 surveys were sent to residents with the intent of “trying to get a representative point of view and quantitative results,” Kline said. “We wanted to see how people in Libby are seeing the issues. It doesn't matter what their opinion is - we just want to hear from them. We don't know what the most common views are.”
The research derived from the survey results will be used to find treatments for asbestos-related diseases. Patient health transfers to community health and the economy and community interactions also benefit, according to Tanis Hernandez the outreach coordinator of CARD.
Of the 1,200 surveys sent in February, approximately 400 have been returned to CARD researchers.
“It's exciting to see how much our community supports research,” Black said in response to the 400 surveys returned. “It's important to let people know that their voice will be heard.”
A drawing was held on March 4 with five random people who returned their surveys receiving $100 Rosauers gift certificates. An additional drawing for returned surveys will take place on Wednesday, March 12 and 15 people will win a $60 Rosauers gift card. The final drawing will take place on March 20 when 30 people will each win a $40 Rosauers gift card.
Responses from the surveys will help to “solidify what we learned from the small focus groups,” Black said. “It will also help us identify what we need to educate the community on and focus our efforts to help the community.”
The surveys are helping to guide research in the area of asbestos-related diseases.
“We're there to make sure research is done and we want it to translate into meaningful answers to help the community,” Black explained. “This is research-focused and it's about community health. We're actively involved in prevention and how clean is clean enough.
“We want to help the community get healthier and move ahead,” Black continued. “We're focusing our efforts to help the community.”
The 1,200 recipients of the survey were chosen from a random number generator selecting from a list of residences. Kline will return to Libby to report the data to residents and “stakeholders in Libby.”
“We appreciate the community partners and community members,” Kline said. “We thank the people who have participated and encourage those who have surveys to respond.”