Assessment of Local Environmental Risk Training (ALERT)

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DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): Project Title: Assessment of Local Environmental Risk Training (ALERT) to Reduce Health Disparities This project addresses broad Challenge Area (09) Health Disparities and specific Challenge Topic, 09-ES-101: Building trust between researchers and communities through capacity building in Environmental Public Health. This project will refine and test the feasibility of a method of engaging communities and researchers in collaborative projects that build mutual trust and longer-term relationships. The Assessment of Local Environmental Risk Training (ALERT) to Reduce Health Disparities responds to the need for building the capacity of community based organizations (CBOs) to actively participate as equal partners in research projects and the need to train researchers to engage community residents in research from the CBO side and be able to communicate research and risk to residents effectively. (NIEHS 2008) ALERT will engage both community organization staff and local air quality researchers in building community capacity to use empirical data in program planning and policy development, embed that capacity in formal action plans, and establish or strengthen partnerships to advance public policies to prevent, reduce, or eliminate air quality health risks. The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (UCLA CHPR) and the UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) will collaborate with The Children's Clinic of Long Beach and the East Los Angeles Community Corp of Boyle Heights. ALERT will use a community- based health data literacy training model to engage community representatives and environmental health researchers in collaborative education and strategic planning activities to address challenges facing residents most at risk for health disparities including communities of color, low-income neighborhoods, and immigrant populations. The specific aims of the project are to 1. develop new educational materials to improve the ability of CBO staff to obtain, understand, and use empirical data in collaboration with academic environmental health (EH) researchers; 2. Conduct trainings and engage CBO participants with EH researchers; 3. Document the feasibility of the ALERT educational model and its impact on the EH knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, and practices of project participants using pre- and post-test data; 4. Disseminate curriculum, training materials and findings to facilitate replication nationally. Strengths of this application include the development of a community-based education model that enhances the data knowledge and skills of CBOs, and fosters equitable partnerships between community members and researchers that are responsive to the environmental health concerns of local communities. The model can be replicated with other environmental health issues to enhance the data knowledge and skills of other community-based organizations. All materials developed will be disseminated via the Centers websites. The Assessment of Local Environmental Risk Training (ALERT) to Reduce Health Disparities responds to the Challenge Topic: 09-ES-101 Building trust between researchers and communities through capacity building in Environmental Public Health. ALERT uses a community based train the trainer model based on diffusion of innovation theoretical framework to build knowledge and skills of community based organizations (CBO) and build collaborative relationships between researchers and CBOs. ALERT will engage both CBO staff and local air quality researchers in building community capacity to use empirical data in program planning and policy development, embed that capacity in formal action plans, and establish or strengthen partnerships to advance public health policies to prevent, reduce, or eliminate air quality health risks.