Community Environmental Health Research: Finding Meaning

描述(由申请人提供) 在担心受到有毒物质暴露威胁的苦恼社区中，最常要求州卫生部门提供援助的类型中，有一种是“健康研究”。然而，当研究完成后，社区往往对结果感到不满。显然，从业者和社区成员对什么是健康研究以及它能提供什么有很大的不同期望和理解。研究人员建议与四个经常参与社区健康研究启动、实施和解释的小组合作。这些团体是：1)学术研究人员；2)公共卫生官员；3)激进组织；4)社区成员。我们的目标是教育和培训所有四个选民，让他们了解其他选民的需求和期望，并在我们开始“社区健康研究”时，就所涉及的内容达成一些共识。 具体目标如下： 1)获取关于参与者对环境暴露的健康影响的知识的信息，以及关于社区健康研究可以和不能做什么来确定特定社区的健康影响的看法。 2)分析我们的伙伴社区(马萨诸塞州劳伦斯和塞勒姆)中的群体关于他们对环境健康研究的看法的结果重点，并辅以对环境健康研究的历史材料的回顾。 3)为社区团体开发、测试和制作关于环境健康研究中伦理和科学挑战和机会的新教育方法和材料。 4)建立建立新的和持续的社区-研究人员关系的机制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) Among the most frequently requested types of assistance from state health departments by distressed communities fearful they are threatened by toxic exposures are "health studies." Yet when studies are done, communities are often unhappy with the results. It seems clear there are vastly differing expectations and understandings among practitioners and community members about what a health study is and what it can provide. The investigators propose to work with four groups frequently involved in community health study initiation, implementation and interpretation. The groups are, 1) academic researchers; 2) public health officials; 3) activist organizations and 4) community members. The goal is to educate and train all four constituencies in the needs and expectations of the others and to come to some common understanding of what is involved when we embark on "community health study." Specific Aims are as follows: 1) Obtain information about participants' knowledge about health impacts of environmental exposures, and perceptions about what community health studies can and cannot do to determine health impacts in specific communities. 2) Analyze the results focus of groups in our partner communities (Lawrence and Salem, Massachusetts) concerning their perceptions of environmental health studies, supplemented with review of historical material on environmental health studies. 3) Develop, test and produce new educational methods and materials for community groups regarding ethical and scientific challenges and opportunities in environmental health studies. 4) Establish mechanisms for forging new and on-going community-researcher relationships.