Grantee Research Project Results
Environmental Health Education and Promotion Initiative to Develop Technical, Managerial and Financial Capacity in Communities Served by Small Water Systems
EPA Grant Number: U915817Title: Environmental Health Education and Promotion Initiative to Develop Technical, Managerial and Financial Capacity in Communities Served by Small Water Systems
Investigators: Guerrero-Preston, Rafael E.
Institution: University of Puerto Rico - Central Administration
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: July 1, 2000 through July 1, 2003
Project Amount: $67,981
RFA: Minority Academic Institutions (MAI) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study (2000) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Fellowship - Earth Sciences , Academic Fellowships
Objective:
The research goal is to develop environmental education materials/strategies that raise community consciousness around the issues of source and drinking water protection. This contribution can be replicated in other culturally diverse, low-income communities in the United States and Latin America.
Approach:
This research is focused on the development of a multidisciplinary framework for environmental health education and promotion strategies in culturally diverse, low-income communities. Drawing from recent experiences in the field of health promotion, emphasizing the social determinants of health, an ecological approach is proposed to community empowerment in selected non-Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority (PRASA) communities during a sustained environmental health education and promotion intervention. Utilizing a broad and multiple sectors approach to community development, this work integrates communities, private water systems' operators and administrators, as well as state and federal regulatory agencies in this empowerment effort.
Expected Results:
Barriers to capacity development exist in non-PRASA communities with differing levels of community organization around the issue of drinking water quality. This research is expected to answer the following questions: Which are the narratives and meanings that engage the community in a capacity development effort for their small water system? What barriers are most prominent in determining the perception of risk by community members? How do we convey research findings and regulatory requirements to community residents in a persuasive and effective manner? What environmental education strategies are most effective in developing a "sense of place" to the members of the community, particularly the children? How much are parents and society willing to pay to reduce water-borne pathogenic illnesses, particularly related to children's health?
Supplemental Keywords:
environmental education, environmental health promotion, community empowerment, small water systems, capacity development, health narratives and meanings, risk perception, water-borne pathogen control, social determinants of health., Health, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Ecological Risk Assessment, Health Risk Assessment, Urban and Regional Planning, genetic susceptability, Sociology, Drinking Water, Ecology and Ecosystems, community awareness, socioeconomics, water quality, community empowerment, low income community, environmental health education, small systems, environmental awareness, drinking water systemProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.