Kathleen Crang

Knowledge and Perception of Lyme Disease: Implications for Risk Assessment Kathleen Crang

Understanding the epidemiology and nature of Lyme disease (LD), and the perception of its risk to the human population are important for the development of public health policies, for guiding clinicians in their practices, and for general public awareness to minimize risk to the population. However, there has been minimal research into knowledge levels and resulting perceptions of Lyme disease, and how those perceptions influence various groups in their practices. This book explores four groups for their knowledge levels and perceptions on Lyme disease: scientists, policy makers, clinicians, and disease-specific advocates. One major category emerged through analysis: knowledge and understanding of LD, along with 5 sub-categories: lack of knowledge and understanding of LD, application of LD knowledge, LD transmission, individual roles, and personal perspectives. The findings indicate the importance of the critical current science of Lyme being disseminated across the groups to enable the development of risk perceptions conducive to effective disease control, and should be particularly useful for healthcare professionals, or individuals personally affected by Lyme disease.