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‘Don't be scared, you don't have to wear your lifejacket’: using the theory of planned behaviour to understand lifejacket usage in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2009

Audrey R. Giles ,
Shaelyn Strachan ,
Gwenyth Stadig  and
Ava C. Baker
Audrey R. Giles
Affiliation:
School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada (agiles@uottawa.ca)
Shaelyn Strachan
Affiliation:
School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada (agiles@uottawa.ca)
Gwenyth Stadig
Affiliation:
School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada (agiles@uottawa.ca)
Ava C. Baker
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, T2N 4N1, Canada
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Abstract

Water related activities result in a large number of fatalities annually throughout Canada, especially in the Canadian north, where drowning rates are up to ten times the national average. This study used participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and archival research to understand why residents of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories (NWT) rarely wear lifejackets. Three themes emerged. Firstly residents largely perceive lifejackets to be inaccessible, secondly drownings are attributed to factors other than failing to wear a lifejacket and thirdly lifejacket use is not encouraged by important individuals in the community. It is suggested that successful lifejacket promotion for this population requires drowning prevention programmes that move away from simplistic approaches that encourage people to wear lifejackets and instead must utilise an approach that addresses each component of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , October 2010 , pp. 328 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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