Tristan Fournier

Avian Influenza in Vietnam: Chicken‐Hearted Consumers?

This study, based on quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted from July 2004 to September 2005, examines the perceptions of Hanoi consumers and their reactions to the Avian Influenza epizootic (H5N1). Hanoi consumers clearly link the risk of human contamination by the virus to the preparation and ingestion of poultry. During the first crisis, consumers reacted quickly and intensely (74% of them had already stopped eating poultry in January 2004). Nevertheless, once the crisis abated, they quickly resumed their consumption of poultry. This behavior corresponds to the pattern described by empirical studies of other crises, such as BSE. What is more surprising is the speed with which the different steps of this common pattern succeeded one another. It may be explained by a rapid decrease in risk anxiety. A logit model shows that, soon after the beginning of the crisis, AI risk anxiety was tempered by confidence in the information and recommendations issued by the government concerning AI and, in the long term, by a high perceived self-efficiency to deal with AI. Indeed, not only has poultry consumption been affected in terms of the quantity consumed, but alternative ways of selecting and preparing poultry have also been adopted as anti-risk practices. Risk communication strategies should take this into account, and rely on a previous assessment of consumer practices adopted to deal with the risk.

Representations and practices of prevention in elderly populations: Investigating acceptance to participate in and adhesion to an intervention study for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (accept study) — The need for a multidisciplinary approach

BackgroundIn the domain of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention, various potentially protective factors have been identified in epidemiological studies. Although the results of these observational studies have been relatively consistent, the results of intervention studies remain disappointing. Methodological problems could explain these negative results, like the selection of the population; a plausible assumption is that the older people who agree to take part in these intervention studies differ from those who refuse, and are those that are least likely to benefit from such programs. The aim of this study was (i) to study the determinants of participation in and adhesion to a prevention trial in a population of older individuals via a quantitative approach using a questionnaire, (ii) to study the representations and practices of prevention in this population using a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews and focus groups.MethodThe study population for the ACCEPT study was recruited at the time of inclusion of subjects in a prevention trial. The population was made up of persons aged 70 years or older, living at home and demonstrating some form of frailty, defined as a spontaneous memory complaint to their general practitioner or difficulties in carrying out instrumental activities of daily living. We used a quantitative approach based on the administration of a self-completed questionnaire sent to 1680 subjects having accepted to take part in the prevention trial, and to the sample of subjects meeting the inclusion criteria but having refused to take part. The qualitative approach, carried out at the moment of inclusion, involved subjects that having accepted to take part and subjects that having refused. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in order to understand the logic leading to refusal or acceptance.ConclusionThe analysis of the results will combine the viewpoints of the different disciplines. It will allow us to better understand the logic at work, to characterise the populations at risk of refusal, and perhaps to remove some of the barriers to participation in prevention programs. The identification of such barriers will provide feedback in terms of the conception and management of prevention measures.

Eating According to One’s Genes? Exploring the French Public’s Understanding of and Reactions to Personalized Nutrition

In this article, we analyze qualitatively the understanding of and reactions to personalized nutrition (PN) among the French public. Focus groups were conducted to identify the opinions and discourses about two applications of knowledge from nutritional (epi)genomics: a biotechnology (nutrigenetic testing) and a public awareness campaign (the “first thousand days of life” initiative). Our objective was to understand to what extent PN could lead to changes in eating practices as well as in the representations of food–health relationships within France, a country characterized by a strong commitment to commensality and a certain “nutritional relativism.” Although discourses on nutritional genomics testify to a resistance to food medicalization, nutritional epigenomics appears as more performative because it introduces the question of transgenerational transmission, thus parental responsibility.