BackgroundDuring times of public health emergencies, effective communication between the emergency response agencies and the affected public is important to ensure that people protect themselves from injury or disease. In order to investigate compliance with public health advice during natural disasters, we examined consumer behaviour during two water notices that were issued as a result of serious flooding. During the summer of 2007, 140,000 homes in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, that are supplied water from Mythe treatment works, lost their drinking water for up to 17 days. Consumers were issued a 'Do Not Drink' notice when the water was restored, which was subsequently replaced with a 'Boil Water' notice. The rare occurrence of two water notices provided a unique opportunity to compare compliance with public health advice. Information source use and other factors that may affect consumer perception and behaviour were also explored.MethodA postal questionnaire was sent to 1,000 randomly selected households. Chi-square, ANOVA, MANOVA and generalised estimating equation (with and without prior factor analysis) were used for quantitative analysis.ResultsIn terms of information sources, we found high use of and clear preference for the local radio throughout the incident, but family/friends/neighbours also proved crucial at the onset. Local newspapers and the water company were associated with clarity of advice and feeling informed, respectively. Older consumers and those in paid employment were particularly unlikely to read the official information leaflets. We also found a high degree of confusion regarding which notice was in place at which time, with correct recall varying between 23.2%-26.7%, and a great number of consumers believed two notices were in place simultaneously. In terms of behaviour, overall non-compliance levels were significantly higher for the 'Do Not Drink' notice (62.9%) compared to the 'Boil Water' notice (48.3%); consumers in paid employment were not likely to comply with advice. Non-compliance with the general advice to boil bowser water was noticeably lower (27.3%).ConclusionHigher non-compliance during the 'Do Not Drink' notice was traced to the public's limited knowledge of water notices and their folk beliefs about the protection offered from boiling water. We suggest that future information dissemination plans reduce reliance on official leaflets and maximise the potential of local media and personal networks. Current public health education programmes are recommended to attend to insufficient and incorrect public knowledge about precautionary actions.

Pro-anorexia is an internet-based movement that hails eating disorders as a lifestyle choice. This article aims to reveal pro-anorexia members' underlying conceptualisations of anorexia that contribute to the maintenance of the disorder. Cognitive linguistic analysis was undertaken on a corpus of data collected from systematically selected pro-anorexia websites. The findings show that the members structure their eating disorder experiences through two central conceptual metaphors: ANOREXIA IS A SKILL and ANOREXIA IS A RELIGION. It is argued that these structures represent an extension of, rather than a radical break from, the accepted conceptualisations of female beauty in Western society. This view challenges the legitimacy of public anger that has been directed towards the pro-anorexia movement and its members.

Purpose -Pro-eating disorder websites are online communities of individuals who do not consider eating disorders to be serious mental illnesses requiring treatment. People visit these websites to meet other like-minded individuals, to share tips and tricks on how to lose weight and how to otherwise maintain the symptomatology of the disorder. This paper aims to review what is actually known about the risks associated with visiting these websites and provides recommendations for dealing with pro-eating disorder material.Design/methodology/approach -Relevant peer-reviewed papers were located by means of searching three online journal databases (SCOPUS, PubMed, Web of Knowledge), and through carrying out reference checking. Key words for the search were: pro-anorexia, pro-ana, pro-bulimia, pro-mia and pro-eating disorders.Findings -Pro eating disorder websites are common and visited by a significant proportion of patients with eating disorders and non-patients. The sites may be perceived beneficial, as they provide support and a sense of community. Although there is evidence for the harmfulness of pro-eating disorder content on the internet, there is no clear indication that such sites promote the development or maintenance of eating disorders. Therefore, banning pro eating disorder websites seems inappropriate and unpractical, but measures for web-hosting companies should be in place allowing them to remove such content. Instead, bodies creating alternative websites for young people should be supported. Clinicians and parents should be made aware of the existence of pro eating disorder websites and how to deal with them.Originality/value -This paper provides an overview of the research in this field and discusses possible ways in which health professionals and the general public may respond to the existence of these web sites.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health problem characterized by persistent obsessions and compulsions. This article provides insights into experiences of OCD through a qualitative, thematic analysis performed upon a set of interviews with people with OCD. Four themes were found as central in the participants' descriptions of OCD episodes: 1) space, 2) the body, 3) objects and 4) interactions. The findings also show that episodes of OCD can be grouped into three broad categories: 1) activity episodes, that revolve around everyday tasks, 2) state episodes, that are concerned with the self and identity, and 3) object episodes, that are concerned with the effects of objects upon the self. The relationship of this three-way classification of OCD episodes to existing cognitive models of OCD is discussed. The study also demonstrates the value of categorising episodes, rather than people, into subtypes of OCD so that intra-participant variation can be highlighted.