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Investigating Behavior Change Following a Home Safety Visit

February 22, 2021 • Ed Comeau

Key Findings:
Research carried out in priority areas in Bristol to investigate the effectiveness of the Home Fire Safety Visit (HFSV) conducted by Avon Fire and Rescue Service to educate residents about home fire safety had the following key findings:

In general and prior to HFSV’s householders tended to over-estimate their safety, experienced complacency with respect to fire hazards and often made (un)reasonable adaptions/avoidances to overcome potential hazards, and this increases with age. Understanding these pre-conceptions could enable FRS to tailor and target their advice, possibly leading to more impact.

Residents’ experience of the HFSV was varied due to specific needs and vulnerabilities. Some of the older residents in this research experienced specific cognitive issues (e.g. memory problems) that inhibited their ability to engage in some of the suggested safety behaviours suggesting that some adaptation to the HFSV is required in order to more fully meet the needs in the community.

The HFSV offers an opportunity for those who have knowledge about safety to receive reassurance about their information and behaviours, and to check and correct those who are operating with incorrect knowledge and behaviours. Some simple and easily achievable behaviour changes were made. However more complex and sustained behaviour changes were more difficult to ascertain. There is a suggestion that cost and vulnerabilities (including age and health) constrain behaviour change. There is opportunity for further research using a more complex research design and longer time period would to investigate this area fully.

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A Comprehensive Approach to Changing Health Behaviors: Care, Prevention, Finance

February 22, 2021 • Ed Comeau

In this report, we (Health team researchers at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University and collaborators) discuss some of our research on health behavior. We show the power of behavioral science in helping individuals at every stage of their healthcare journey. Taking care of our health does not just mean going to the doctor when we are ill or taking our medication. It also means doing the things that will prevent us from getting ill and taking care of our health finances. In other words, health is about curative care, prevention and finance, which together forms a comprehensive approach to health behavior. We think of health as a tree, where the roots symbolize stable finances, the trunk stands for adequate prevention, and the branches and leaves, which grow back when they fall off, symbolize curative care.

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Applying Behavioral Insights to Fire Safety

February 22, 2021 • Ed Comeau

A report from East Sussex Fire and Rescue in the UK, “Applying Behavioral Insights to Fire Safety – A Trial to Reduce Incidents of Accidental House Fires.”

They moved away from focusing on the traditional audiences and developed non-traditional strategies and took a rigorous approach to data collection that informed the evolution of the project. This meant they did not focus on the usual “at risk” groups, but instead focused on the demographic that was creating the true problem in the community and that could cause change. A very good example of a Community Risk Assessment that then informed the Community Risk Reduction plan.

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Behavior Change for Community Fire Safety

February 22, 2021 • Ed Comeau

This is a report produced by the Scientific Research Council of the Netherlands Fire Service in 2016 that has eight articles authored by different subject matter experts in the fields of behavioral science and fire safety.

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CRR Radio: CRR in Naperville and Illinois

September 29, 2020 • Ed Comeau

In this episode of CRR Radio we chat with Naperville (IL) Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis about how they are using community risk reduction in Naperville and across the state of Illinois through the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and what an impact it is having locally and statewide.

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CRR Radio: Using GIS to Map Opioid Usage

September 29, 2020 • Ed Comeau

In this episode of CRR Radio we talk with Assistant Chief Rich Lewellyn with the Everett (Washington) Fire Department about his award-winning Executive Fire Officer research paper, “An Epidemic in the Shadows: Using GIS to Map Opioid Use in the Spokane Valley,” that focused on using GIS to identify opioid usage and create a data-visualization tool that could help communities in allocating resources to fight this epidemic. This paper was selected for the 2018 Outstanding Applied Research Award by the National Fire Academy.

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CRR Radio: CRR and Climate Change in Australia

September 29, 2020 • Ed Comeau

In this episode on CRR Radio, we talk with retired Australian Fire Chief Neil Bibby about how a group of fellow retired chiefs are coming together to work on the issue of the convergence of CRR and climate change. We also talk about how CRR is being implemented in Asia and what lessons we might learn from their experiences.

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Side Effects of CRR (Part 2)

September 29, 2020 • Ed Comeau

In the second part of this two-part series on CRR Radio we finish our conversation with Captain Joe Powers, FO, from the Henrico County Division of Fire. This episode looks at the external side effects of CRR, focusing on how CRR can have a positive impact on the fire department’s relationship with your community’s governance. City and town administrators may speak a different language than the fire department, focusing on outcomes (lives and property saved, for example) versus outputs (response time, number of calls), and CRR can be an instrumental part of helping you bridge this gap.

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Side Effects of CRR (Part 1)

September 29, 2020 • Ed Comeau

What are some of the side effects of CRR? In this two-part series we talk with Captain Joe Powers, FO, from the Henrico County Division of Fire about the impacts of CRR. In Part 1, we take a look at the side effects internally within the department. Part 2 of the podcast will look at the external effects.

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