A team of researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine has developed a set of educational materials designed to increase awareness of pesticide hazards and other ways to manage household pests.
The materials include a cartoon and activity book and a four-minute DVD entitled, “Keeping Pests Out: What Mary Learned.” The materials were designed to target American Indian youth.
“The message in the materials is based on integrated pesticide management ” said Thomas A. Arcury, Ph.D., professor and director of research in the Department of Family Medicine at the School of Medicine, who led the research team. “Integrated Pesticide Management encourages pest management, with pesticides as a last resort.”
The three major themes of the material are:
• “Starve ‘em out” by keeping foods in places that pests can’t get to.
• “Dry ‘em out” by fixing leaks in the house that provide water for pests.
• “Keep ‘em out” by stopping pests before they enter the house.
Other members of the research team are: Ronny A. Bell, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology and a native of Pembroke, Chan Lane Jr., web developer, and Amanda Gentry, project manager.
The research team was advised by: Tom Beidler, Ph.D., senior stewardship manager, Syngenta; Joseph Bell, M.D., medical director, Pembroke Pediatrics; Kay Harris, certification, licensing and outreach manager, North Carolina Department of Agriculture; Stanley Knick, Ph.D., director of the Native American Resource Center, UNC Pembroke; Patricia Locklear, Head Start/Early Head Start project director, Lumbee Regional Development Association; Hazel Perez, technology manager, Lumbee Regional Development Association; Otha Swett, director of School Health Services, Public Schools of Robeson County; and James VanKirk, director of the Southern Region Center.
For more information or to receive copies of the materials, contact Arcury at 336-716-4982 or by email at tarcury@wfubmc.edu.
###
Media Contacts: Robert Conn, rconn@wfubmc.edu, Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, or Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. U.S. News & World Report ranks Wake Forest University School of Medicine 18th in family medicine, 20th in geriatrics, 25th in primary care and 41st in research among the nation's medical schools. It ranks 32nd in research funding by the National Institutes of Health. Almost 150 members of the medical school faculty are listed in Best Doctors in America.
Media Relations
Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587