Education
At the end of year 1 of this project we will develop a 20-min hydration education session for Wildland Firefighters (WLFFs) using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB, see Figure 3).
The TPB assumes that individuals act rationally according to their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control to make a change. It has been applied with good results in firefighters to facilitate behavioral change.
The education session will address attitudes toward hydration concerning health, performance, and safety. This includes fluid recommendations and suitable beverages to consume. It will discuss subjective norms and how WLFFs experience the role of others, such as leadership in relation to this topic. Perceived control will also be addressed by discussing the ability and skills needed to self-assess hydration status, including instruction on how to use the hydration self-assessment sheet developed for this study
