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The epidemiological model of host, agent and environmental factors is applied to an analysis of the acceptance or rejection of an accident preventive measure among sugar cane cutters in Puerto Rico. The host factor of personal readiness as measured by attitudes towards. prevention, concern about having an accident, belief in one's vulnerability, job satisfaction; general adjustment, fatalism, and health knowledge and behavior were found to affect acceptance of the preventive measure. The agent factor as represented by the negative and positive characteristics of the protective measure also strongly affected acceptance. While environmental factors related to exposure to mass media and social participation were found to be related to acceptance, attempts to utilize social pressures to secure acceptance did not prove as successful as direct health education. A model is proposed whereby these three factors of host, agent, and environment could be studied systematically in other community health campaigns.
Edward A. Suchman (Fri,) studied this question.