Project Background back to top

The Saginaw Community Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program is a collaborative effort among the School District of the City of Saginaw, Michigan Department of Agriculture, and Michigan State University. The purpose of this program is to provide educational materials and programs to students about IPM concepts, to encourage student and community involvement in areas where pests and pesticides may be a problem, and to implement IPM in Emerson Elementary and other Saginaw Public Schools. (Grant Agreement, 1999). Saginaw was identified as a target population based on the EPA Urban Initiative criteria (urban, low-income community). The School District of the City of Saginaw received a grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture to help fund this program. Michigan State University received a grant from EPA, Region 5 and the Michigan Department of Agriculture under the Federal Urban Initiative to develop curriculum, outreach materials and assist in linking school IPM education with community outreach. The overall objective associated with the Federal Urban Initiative is to prevent the misuse of pesticides in low-income urban areas. The Assistant Superintendent of the Saginaw City School District heads the Saginaw Community IPM program, and IPM board members include representatives from the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Michigan State University, the School District of the City of Saginaw, the Growth and Afrocentric Program (G.A.P.) of Saginaw, VISTA, the Saginaw County Health Department, City of Saginaw, and the Cathedral District Neighborhood Association. The board provides input and shapes the activities and policies initiated by this program.The IPM board members and additional participants are divided into four committees to facilitate efficient implementation of the project. The committees include:

The Outreach Committee
The outreach committee is responsible for extending the concepts of IPM to the community at large. In order to plan and focus educational and training programs to meet the specific needs of the community, the committee developed and implemented a preliminary baseline survey of the neighborhood served by Emerson Elementary School. The results of this survey are the focus of this report.
The Education Committee
The education committee is responsible for developing and implementing an IPM curriculum for the two fourth-grade classrooms at Emerson Elementary. This is an innovative approach in disseminating the concepts of IPM to children. Currently the IPM curriculum is being developed and team-taught by an MSU Academic Specialist and the G.A.P. natural resources facilitator, together with the 4^th grade teachers at Emerson Elementary. All 4^th graders in Emerson Elementary participate in an IPM class weekly for the entire school year.
The IPM Work Committee
The IPM work committee assures that the IPM plan for Emerson Elementary is implemented. The work committee is headed by the head custodian at Emerson, and it works closely with custodial and food service staff, teaching and administrative staff and the 4^th grade IPM team to approach pest management in a holistic and sustainable manner.
The Finance Committee
The finance committee is responsible for budget oversight, monthly reporting and communication with the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

The Community Survey back to top
Target Population
The target population for this community survey was the neighborhood served by Emerson Elementary School in Saginaw, Michigan. The boundaries of this neighborhood are: South East: Genesee and Holland Avenues
North East: Genesee and Washington
North West: Washington and Hoyt, Hoyt and Howard, Howard and Ward, Ward and Atwater
South West: Atwater and Bagley, Bagley and Holland
Purpose of the Survey
As a baseline survey of the target neighborhood, the purpose was to identify what the community knows about pests, pesticides, and pest management, and to help focus the community education program. In addition, the survey was a way to acquaint community members with the Saginaw community IPM program and thereby gain trust and increase participation in subsequent education and outreach programs.
Information Collected
The survey requested information about residents' knowledge and behavior regarding pests, pesticides and pest management.
Survey Development
The survey was prepared by the author of this report, a MSU Resource Development graduate student, with assistance from the MSU Academic Specialist and MSU Resource Development Professor associated with the project. Questions were added, deleted and changed by the Outreach Committee. All questions were pre-tested by members of a similar community and VISTA and G.A.P staff before it was administered in the Emerson Community.
Timeframe
The final revised version of the survey was ready at the end of September, 2000. VISTA, volunteers and G.A.P. staff surveyed community members at the end of October, 2000. All survey data were collected within seven days.
Population
The unit of analysis used for the survey was a household (1 survey form per household). One hundred households were surveyed door-to-door, and 71 responded.
Survey method
This was a "face-to-face" survey. Surveyors were trained to ask questions of residents and their responses were checked-off by the interviewers. Visual aids were used to ask questions 11-13 (see Appendix).
Response rate
The response rate for the survey was 71 percent. To achieve this rate, a letter from the Outreach committee, the school district, and G.A.P. was mailed in advance to the respondents, letting them know about the IPM project, the purpose of the survey and the name of the person who would be contacting them by telephone to make an appointment (see Appendix). VISTA, volunteers, and G.A.P. staff called the respondents to set up appointments for residential visits.
Training the Surveyors
The Chair of the Outreach Committee identified the interviewers as VISTA, volunteers and G.A.P. staff. A half-day training for the interviewers was held at the end of September 2000. During the training, the interviewers learned about the background of the project, the significance of the survey, and their responsibilities as surveyors. They were also trained in interviewing techniques. Interviewers observed a mock interview conducted by the MSU graduate student and then practiced the survey on others.

Data entry and analysis
Data entry and analysis were completed by the author.

Results back to top

Demographics

Figure 1. Years of Residence  Out of the 71 people surveyed, 55 percent of the respondents have been in the neighborhood (under the jurisdiction of Emerson Elementary) for less than five years, and only 14 percent have been in the neighborhood for over 15 years (Figure 1). Over 67 percent of the respondents are renters.Figure 2. Number of people in the household 
Forty-one percent of the households surveyed have at most three people in the household, and 39 percent have at most five people in the house (Figure 2). The number of children in each household ranges from zero to as many as 10, with two children per household as the median. Seventy-five percent of the respondents were women.

Health and Safety Questions

The respondents were asked four questions regarding issues about health and safety related to pests and pesticide use in the household. The respondents were asked if they agree or disagree with the statements read to them. The first statement was "Insect or rodent pests in you house can cause serious diseases and asthma." Eighty-eight percent of the respondents agreed and only 4.2 percent disagreed. The second statement was "The more odor a pesticide has, the more dangerous it is." Eighty-two percent agreed with this incorrect statement, 8.5 percent disagreed and 10 percent were not sure.The third statement was "Pesticides for homeowners are much safer than pesticides that professionals use." Nearly 30 percent of the respondents agreed with this incorrect statement, while 48 percent disagreed, and 22 percent were not sure.

The fourth statement asked "When you are using pesticides, which is he most common way they can get into your body?" Four choices were offered. According to the respondents, inhaling the pesticide is the most common way (44 percent), while 21 percent chose all of the four choices namely: through the eyes, when inhaled, when swallowed, through the skin (Figure 3). While through the skin is widely regarded as the most common way for pesticides to get into the body, the types of pesticides most commonly used by the respondents may have shaped their responses to this question (see Figure 5).

Figure 3. The most common way pesticides enter the body

Pests

The most common pest problems in the community are mice (84 percent) and cockroaches (78 percent). Flies are also on the top three list, with 48 percent (Figure 4). Figure 4. Pests seen in the house

Pesticides

The most commonly used pesticides in the house are loose baits (62 percent), followed by dusts and powders (48 percent) (Figure 5).Figure 5. Pesticides used in the house
 Sixty-one percent of the respondents use pesticides in their house at most five times a year, and 19 percent used pesticides more than ten times a year (Figure 6). Figure 6. Number of times pesticides have been used per year
Eighty-seven percent of the respondents tried controlling their pest problems by themselves, and 52 percent also hired a professional pest control company to get rid of pests in the house (Figure 7). Respondents could choose more than one answer for this question. Sixty eight percent were not successful in solving their pest problems.  Figure 7. Means of Pest Control

 The respondents were asked which pesticides they use to control certain pests (Table 1). For cockroaches, the most common pesticides used are dusts and powders (74 percent), fogs and bombs (23 percent), and bait stations (21 percent). For mice, the most common pesticides used are loose baits (37 percent), and fogs and bombs (30 percent). Table 1. Pesticide/Pest Usage (partial listing), in percentage

Major Conclusions and Suggestions back to top

Community
Most of the respondents have lived in the Emerson area for less than 5 years. Most are renters, and they are relatively new to the area. This raises an issue about the sense of community that exists among those living in the neighborhood.
Suggestions.
Prior to launching a community program, it might be useful to explore how and on what basis the neighborhood could be organized. Furthermore, given the number of renters in the neighborhood, perhaps the project should reach out to landlords, especially if structural modifications are needed to seal out the pests and reduce conditions conducive to pests.

Awareness about pests and pesticides
Most of the respondents have some knowledge about the health impacts of having pests in the house. Nearly half of the respondents are aware that pesticides for homeowners are not necessarily safer than those used by professionals. The majority of respondents indicated that inhalation/breathing and through the skin are the most common ways for pesticides to enter the body. However, the majority of the respondents have the misconception that the amount of odor a pesticide has indicates how dangerous it is.
Suggestion.
In addition to reviewing the health impacts of having specific pests in the home, the IPM community and outreach programs should address the issues regarding the health impacts of using and misusing pesticides in their homes.

Common pests and pesticides used in the household
The most common household pests in the Emerson neighborhood are mice and cockroaches. An overwhelming majority of the respondents use pesticides in their homes. Loose baits are the most commonly used pesticide for mice, and dusts and powders are commonly used for cockroaches. Some of the respondents use fogs and bombs for both cockroaches and mice. Most of the respondents either tried controlling their pest problems themselves, and/or hired a professional pest control operator. The majority who have hired a PCO classify that as unsuccessful in controlling their pest problems.
Suggestion.
The initial community training and outreach activities should focus on safer pest management of cockroaches and mice. Furthermore, there is a need to teach the community about health and safety issued associated with using common household pesticides, and that the community be taught how to choose the safest and most effective plan to combat their household pests.

Socio-cultural issue
It is worth mentioning that the survey team had a difficult time getting respondents to participate in the survey. This might be due to the fact that having pests in their homes is considered to be a source of embarrassment for many. The issue of embarrassment implies that it will be rather difficult to get people to actually go to training.Suggestion.
The Outreach Committee should provide incentives for the community members to participate in the training programs. Examples: Dinner and a Robot, door prizes, child care and youth programs.

Next Steps back to top

Three common themes came up in the discussion of results of this baseline study. First, there is a need to educate this particular community about the about health impacts of having pests in the house. Second, there is a need to educate the community about the health impacts of using pesticides in the house. And last, there is a need to provide residents with the means to manage pests differently than the way they are currently using. All three of these themes fit nicely and help refine the focus of the Saginaw Community IPM Program outreach programs for the community. The three themes will be addressed in the first community training scheduled at the end of January.

Report submitted to Saginaw Community IPM Program Board Members: January 25, 2001 Written by Ting Bienvenida
Resource Development Graduate Program
Michigan State University