Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T15:59:09.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lessons Learned at World Youth Day: Collecting Data and Using Postcards at Mass Gatherings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Alison Hutton ,
Allison Roderick  and
Rebecca Munt
Alison Hutton*
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Allison Roderick
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Rebecca Munt
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
*
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders UniversityGPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia E-mail: Alison.hutton@flinders.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

World Youth Day (WYD) and its associated activities were held in Sydney, Australia from 15–20 July 2008. The aims of this research were to pilot the use of postcards at mass gatherings and to collect baseline data of how young people (age 16–25 years) identify factors that may affect their health and safety when attending mass gatherings.

Hypothesis:

The concerns of young people in relation to their health and safety at mass gatherings are poorly understood. It was decided that postcards would be an effective method of data collection in the mobile mass gathering environment.

Methods:

The research setting was the Pilgrim Walk at WYD. Participants on this walk were young people. To measure their health and safety concerns, a postcard was developed using a Likert scale to rank their attitudes on a continuum.

Results:

Young people stated that staying hydrated, having enough to eat, and being safe in a crowd were important to them. They also indicated that they perceived, overcrowding, getting to and from an event, and violent behavior as the greatest risks to their health and safety at a mass gathering.

Conclusions:

The problems with postcard distribution at a “mobile” mass gathering have been identified. Even so, results gathered showed that young people were focused on “in the moment” aspects of their health; such as access to food and water. They also had concerns for their safety due to potential overcrowding and/or violent behavior.

Keywords

healthmass-gatheringsnursing researchpostcardsyoung people
Type
Brief Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , June 2010 , pp. 273 - 277
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Milsten, A, Maguire, B, Bissell, R, Seaman, K: Mass-gathering medical care: A review of the literature. Prehosp Disaster Med 2002;17(3):151–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Arbon, P: Mass-gathering medicine: A review of the evidence and future directions for research. Prehosp Disaster Med 2007;22(2):131–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.World Youth Day 2008. Pilgrim Guide, WYD 2008, Australia. Available at http://www.wyd2008.org/index.php/en/pilgrims_registration. Accessed 30 July 2008.Google Scholar
4.Arbon, P: Planning medical coverage for mass gatherings in Australia: What we currently know. Journal of Emergency Nursing 2005;31(4): 346–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Pirotta, M, Gunn, J, Farish, S, Karabatsos, G: Primer postcard improves postal survey response rates. Aust N Z J Public Health 1999;23(2):196–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Becker, H, Cookston, J, Kulberg, V: Mailed survey follow-ups—Are postcard reminders more cost-effective than second questionnaires? West J Nurs Res 2000;22(5):642–647.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Bergk, V, Gasse, C, Schnell, R, Haefeli, WE: Mail surveys: Obsolencnet model or valuable instrument in general practice research? Swiss Medical Wkly 2005;135:189–191.Google ScholarPubMed
8.Hill, A, Fahrney, K, Wheeless, S, Carson, C: Survey response inducements for registered nurses. West J Nurs Res 2006;28:322–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Taylor, B, Kermode, S, Roberts, K: Research in Nursing and Health Care: Evidence for Practice. 3rd ed. South Melbourne: Thompson, 2006.Google Scholar
10.Hutton, A: Privacy, independence and peer interaction in an adolescent ward. Journal of the Children's Issues 2008;12(1):35–39.Google Scholar
11.Roberts, K, Taylor, B: Nursing Research Processes and Australian Perspective. 2nd ed. South Bank Victoria: Thompson, 2002.Google Scholar