Grantee Research Project Results

2012 Progress Report: Tribal Environmental Public Health Indicators

EPA Grant Number: R834791
Title: Tribal Environmental Public Health Indicators
Investigators: Donatuto, Jamie , Campbell, Larry
Institution: Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013 (Extended to June 30, 2014)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2011 through June 30,2012
Project Amount: $235,517
RFA: Exploring Linkages Between Health Outcomes and Environmental Hazards, Exposures, and Interventions for Public Health Tracking and Risk Management (2009) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health

Objective:

The overarching goals of the project are to create and test environmental public health indicators (EPHIs) specific to Native American tribal communities in the Puget Sound/Salish Sea region of the Pacific Northwest. The hypothesis being tested is that the public health of Native American communities is more accurately evaluated when the health indicators employed reflect Native American definitions of health. The objectives of the proposed research are to:

1. Establish a set of environmental public health indicators for Coast Salish communities in the Puget Sound region that reflect the communities’ meanings and prioritizations of health;
2. Test the tribal–specific indicator set by employing it to assess the health status of the tribal communities; and,
3. Evaluate the efficacy of the tribal-specific indicator set by reviewing the health status results with tribes

Progress Summary:

The Swinomish Tribe, project lead, partnered with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe and the Stillaguamish Tribe for the project. The first objective (to establish a set of environmental public health indicators for Coast Salish communities in the Puget Sound region that reflect the communities’ meanings and prioritizations of health) was achieved in Year One of the project. The indicator set was named the Indigenous Health Indicators (IHIs).

The second objective (to test the tribal–specific indicator set by employing it to assess the health status of the tribal communities) and the third objective (to evaluate the efficacy of the tribal-specific indicator set by reviewing the health status results with tribes) were accomplished in Year 2 of the project with four of the five partner Tribes.

In Year 2, four of the partner Tribes held half-day workshops with tribal members that tested the clarity, accuracy, and relevance of the IHIs. Results were presented at the workshops via PowerPoint and TurningPoint polling software; the polling software allowed answers to be tallied and recorded immediately, and visually depicted answers in the PowerPoint presentation (e.g., bar graph). Workshop data and participants’ comments demonstrated that the IHIs depict key non-physiological tribal environmental public health priorities and concerns. The data also show that the measures and scales generally made sense to participants, as did the weighting and ranking tasks.

Each Tribe’s workshop results were presented to their respective Council for review. Verbal presentations provided each Council with a summary of the results as well as some potential uses for the IHIs: establishing baseline health status, emergency preparedness plans, setting cleanup guidelines, and a host of other health-related policies, both on and off Reservation, with the caveat that the indicator set is still in the testing phase. The feedback to date from each of the Councils has been positive and supportive, with ongoing discussions about how the IHIs could be furthered refined and incorporated into decision-making practices and policies.

One more Tribe will host a workshop (in November 2013). Once workshop findings and the manuscripts for two peer-reviewed publications are reviewed by all Councils and approved for use in the project, results will be published and widely disseminated. One avenue of dissemination is via the IHI website, created during this project and launched in Year 2.

Incorporating indigenous knowledge with other knowledge systems has been problematic historically. Project researchers are therefore cautious with respect to the proposed IHI framework. Taken out of context, indigenous knowledge can be misrepresented, misunderstood, or both. By making use of constructed scales to describe some of the key nonphysical, community-based environmental indicators of indigenous health, the long-term goal is to provide an equal playing field for learning more, from both western and indigenous perspectives, about how past, present and future changes to the natural resource base can affect indigenous community health.

Future Activities:

One more Tribe will host a workshop in November 2013. Once workshop findings and the manuscripts for two peer-reviewed publications are reviewed by all Councils and approved for use in the project, results will be published and widely disseminated.  One avenue of dissemination is via the IHI website, created during this project and launched in Year 2.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 3 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

risk assessment, risk management, seafood, fish consumption, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Environmental Knowledge, cultural impacts, human health, environmental health, community assessment, Native Americans

Relevant Websites:

http://www.swinomish-nsn.gov/ihi/

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2011 Progress Report

2013 Progress Report

Final Report