RISK MANAGEMENT IN NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

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Native American communities bear a disproportionate burden of risk from U.S. nuclear activities ranging from uranium mining to waste disposal. And while radiation risks have received extensive general study, very little research has gone into understanding these risks within the specific contexts of the lives of Native American peoples. At least some of these communities have concluded that a necessary part of an effort to redress this imbalance is for the communities themselves to acquire a better understanding of radiation health issues. Better understanding will help empower community members both in managing the risks and in articulating more effectively their needs for future research and for controls on future exposure. The principle goal of this project is to develop Native American community based capabilities for community members to learn about radiation health issues as they affect their lives. It is a collaborative effort involving two Native American community organizations and health care providers working in 21 communities in Nevada and in Oklahoma,a small public health research institute, and a university research center which studies risk assessment, risk management, and equity concerns in hazard management This proposal will: 1) develop and evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an educational and technical support program; 2) build and test the program in two affected Native areas involving four Native nations; 3) solicit community input on the nature and scope of the topics that need to be addressed prior to designing the educational and technical support program and maintain on-going community evaluation of the program; 4) develop outreach programs to other Native American communities and to the government and academic research establishment. There are five tasks: l) collaborative identification of health research and information needs; 2) development of a training program for trainers; 3) presentation of community education modules by the community trainers; 4) strategic planning for local risk management; 5) communication with other Native American communities and with the research community. Evaluation and planning for future activities will be a key component of each of the tasks.