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Título: Travel agents as partners in promoting referral of at-risk travellers to travel health clinics
Autores: MacDougall, Laura A.
Fecha: 2000
Publicador: McGill University - MCGILL
Fuente:
Tipo: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Tema: Health Sciences, Public Health.
Recreation.
Descripción: Increases in travel-related illness require new partnerships to ensure travellers are prepared for health risks abroad. The present study evaluated a health promotion intervention aimed at travel agents to encourage them to refer at-risk travellers to travel health clinics. Information on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of travel agents before and after the intervention was compared using two self-administered questionnaires. Proportions of first-time attendees of travel clinics reporting referral by a travel agent were monitored in order to detect post-intervention changes.
Evaluation of the intervention revealed a small improvement in travel agents' overall attitudes and beliefs (p = 0.03), in particular their intention to refer (p = 0.01). Sixty-five percent of travel agents self-reported an increase in referral behaviour; owners or managers of the agency were significantly more likely to do so than other travel agents (OR = 7.25; 95% CI: 1.64, 32.06). Older travel agents, those that worked longer hours and those with some past referral experience had significantly higher post-intervention scores. The proportion of travellers attending a travel health clinic who had been referred by a travel agent did not increase over the course of the study.
Education of travel agents early in their training is required to underscore the need for clinic referrals and to ensure routine referral of all at-risk travellers. Travel agents can be willing partners in referring travellers to travel health clinics and agencies should be encouraged to develop specific referral policies.
Idioma: en