The Effect of a Multicomponent Professional Development Training on the Beliefs and Behaviors of Community Health Educators Concerning Food Irradiation

Abstract

Beliefs have a significant effect on the health behaviors of individuals and educators; however, they can be difficult to change. The purpose of this study was to determine if exposing community health educators, specifically family and consumer sciences county extension educators, to a multicomponent professional development training on food irradiation could change their beliefs and behaviors. This study compared the food irradiation beliefs and educational programming of educators who participated in a professional development training with those who did not. Results indicated that the training significantly improved the food irradiation beliefs of participants. In addition, the number of participants who provided food irradiation education significantly improved compared with educators who had not attended the training. These results suggest that this type of professional development training format can significantly affect beliefs and could increase the amount of food irradiation information available to consumers through community health educators.