Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Analysis and Action on the Environmental Determinants of Health and Health Disparities
EPA Grant Number: NIMHD006Title: Analysis and Action on the Environmental Determinants of Health and Health Disparities
Investigators: Glover, Saundra , Wilson, Sacoby M. , Williams, Edith , Brandt, Heather , Zhang, Hongmei
Institution: University of South Carolina at Columbia , University of Maryland - College Park
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2011 through July 31, 2014
Project Amount: $669,258
RFA: Transdisciplinary Networks of Excellence on the Environment and Health Disparities (2012) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice , Human Health
Objective:
The objective of the research was to expand the NIMHD-funded Center of Excellence’s (CoE) capacity to engage communities of color impacted by health disparities with a focus on environmental justice and environmental health disparity issues within the State of South Carolina. Also, to take resident expertise in environmental, social and behavioral science at University of South Carolina-Institute for Partnership to Eliminate Health Disparities (USC-IPEHD) and University of Maryland (UMD) and an expansive community network to conduct environmental, community-based participatory and translational research focused on addressing environmental stressors in South Carolina. The activities proposed in this project will: 1) build a program to assess environmental health disparities in the state through data collected by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program; 2) assess community perception of environmental determinants of cancer risk and disparities in rural and urban communities in South Carolina using a mixed methods approach; and 3) engage and train members of community-based organizations that represent environmental justice communities and environmental health disparity populations in the use of the block assessment methodology to identify ecological stressors and intervene to address disparities in burden, exposure, and health.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Previous research has shown that CBPR has been uniquely successful at building trust between community and academic partners, increasing community confidence in scientific research, improving parity in research management, and driving solutions focused on mitigation, compliance, and revitalization and the results of this study were no different. In addition, studies have shown the efficacy of this approach in helping to build effective partnerships to address EJ issues. A key strength of this study was the authentic and transformative historic partnership of the research team 2 members with the community partners and partner institutions. The research team brought extensive experience using community-driven and community-based methods. The team had previously worked with community leaders from neighborhoods in Orangeburg, SC and Charleston, SC, partnered with HBCUs across the state of South Carolina and Minority Serving Institutions across the country, established the Charleston Area Pollution Prevention Partnership (CAPs), a community-university-government (CUG) partnership between LAMC, Rosemont, USC, UMD, and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), established the CCE-SPHERE Community Action Board and other groups to address local environmental hazards through research, community capacity-building, and action.
The results of the Photovoice process yielded photos that depicted positive and negative implications of the environment and health across seven emergent themes: recreation and leisure; food access; hazards and pollution; health, human, and social services; economic issues; beautification; and accommodation and accessibility. Positive photos (e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables, community gardens) and negative photos (e.g., standing water, abandoned houses) demonstrated a high level of interest among community members in considering how the environment influences health and contributes to health disparities. Evaluation of photos resulted in preparation of an action plan to guide future advocacy to support positive elements of the environment and address negative ones.
Photovoice resulted in the generation and/or revision of questions on perceived cancer risk, environmental health risks, and social factors that influence health and identification of three to five factors perceived as paramount to addressing risk perceptions in the development of the project’s environmental health survey instrument. Photovoice findings show participants made positive and negative connections between their environment and health in the thematic areas of recreation and leisure; food access; environmental hazards; pollution; health, human, and social services; economic issues, beautification; and accessibility and accommodation. The results of photovoice were used to inform the development of an environmental health survey. In addition, the photovoice products are being used as tools to engage community members in advocacy efforts to address disparities.
A key outcome of Project 2 was the involvement of underrepresented minority students in the conduct of the research and more specifically the training and development of an underrepresented minority doctoral student at the University of South Caroling in health disparities research. Dr. LaShanta Rice, successfully defended her dissertation and graduated during the project period and is now in a postdoctoral fellowship at MUSC. Project funding supported her training in public health with a focus on eliminating cancer health disparities among Black Americans with emphasis on evaluating social and environmental factors.
Conclusions:
Our findings demonstrated that Photovoice is a useful method of ascertaining community input, engaging community members in research, and documenting perceptions of environmental challenges in underserved communities. Results from this study will inform development of an environmental health survey and future health promotion interventions. Understanding social beliefs and general perspectives on environmental risks may provide a partial explanation for racial/ethnic differences in environmental and cancer health disparities. The results of the Environmental Health Survey underscore opportunities for community-engaged interventions to focus on the importance of individual, protective behavior and also action to address community-level environmental risks to address health disparities.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 24 publications | 2 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Rice LJ, Brandt HM, Hardin JW, Ingram LA, Wilson SM. Exploring perceptions of cancer risk, neighborhood environmental risks, and health behaviors of blacks. Journal of Community Health 2015;40(3):419-430. |
NIMHD006 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
Photovoice, documentary photography, environmental health survey, community-based approaches, community block assessment, environmental justice, environmental health disparitiesRelevant Websites:
Coordinating Center of Excellence in the Social Promotion of Health Equity through Research, Education, and Community Engagement (CCE-SPHERE) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe 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.