Grantee Research Project Results
2012 Progress Report: Revision Application to Support Environmental Health Disparities Research
EPA Grant Number: NIMHD010Title: Revision Application to Support Environmental Health Disparities Research
Investigators: Provencio-Vasquez, Elias , Olvera, Hector , Grineski, Sara , Collins, Timothy
Institution: The University of Texas at El Paso , The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2011 through July 31, 2014
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 22, 2011 through September 21,2012
Project Amount: $752,795
RFA: Transdisciplinary Networks of Excellence on the Environment and Health Disparities (2012) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice , Human Health
Objective:
This Revision award proposed to expand the scope of the existing Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center (HHDRC) by integrating a new thematic Core focused on Environment. The Environment Core is nested within the current core structure and the broader aims of the HHDRC, and is advancing innovative research and practice in environmental health.
The vision for the Environment Core (EC) is to: 1) advance knowledge of interrelationships between environmental and social determinants of health disparities, particularly within heterogeneous Hispanic populations, through a commitment to transdisciplinary research; and 2) utilize this knowledge to influence policy change, public health practice and community-based interventions to reduce disparities. The vision of the Environment Core is being operationalized through the following three Specific Aims that explicitly link this core with the overall specific aims and ongoing activities of the HHDRC:
EC Specific Aim 1: Conduct research to evaluate complex interactions between social, built and natural environmental systems, while clarifying which aspects of Mexican-origin/Hispanic status are most important, as determinants of environmental health disparities
EC Specific Aim 2: Build research and training capacities to examine and address environmental health disparities
EC Specific Aim 3: Facilitate the translation of environmental health disparities research into policy, public health practice, and community-based engagement
Specific Aim 1 is being addressed over the 20 month funding period through two trans-disciplinary studies. Trans-disciplinary Study 1 is a multilevel modeling analysis of social and environmental determinants of children’s lung health. Trans-disciplinary Study 2 examines how Hispanic ethnicity interacts with other social characteristics to influence respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalizations due to increases in daily air pollution.
Specific Aim 2 is being addressed through the cultivation of trans-disciplinary research and training capacity among students and faculty at UTEP/UTSPH. To these ends, the EC will offer pilot grants, support student research assistants (RAs), develop and implement curricular changes at UTEP, and develop an Environmental Health Research Lab (EHRL).
Specific Aim 3 will generally orient the EC’s outreach activities into the future. The primary activity related to this aim, currently underway, is the development of an informed action plan for future community-based research, interventions, and fundamental science that is grounded in the needs of stakeholders and community members.
Progress Summary:
Specific Aim 1: Completed Work on Trans-disciplinary Study #1
- Data collection for the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) children’s health survey is complete.
o The data was collected from parents/guardians of all 4th and 5th graders in EPISD through four waves of mailings (May 2012). The mailings included the survey, followed by a reminder postcard, a second copy of the survey, and then a second reminder postcard, each one week apart. EC students and faculty assembled packets by hand, and managed the data collection process.
o 1888 surveys were completed and sent back for analysis (for a 30% response rate).
o All surveys have been scanned in. Project RAs are manually entering open-ended responses to survey questions that cannot be entered using the scanner.
- 1 undergraduate RA and 1 graduate student RA for the 2012-2013 Academic Year have been hired.
- Seasonal data collection for the air quality surfaces is underway.
o Spring and Summer PM (particulate matter) measurements were collected.
o Ultrafine particle measurements began in July and will continue through December.
Specific Aim 1: Completed Work on Trans-disciplinary Study #2
- Graduate student RA has been hired for 2012-2013 academic year
- IRB paperwork has been submitted to the Texas Department of Health Services (August 2012) for review at their September meeting. A similar packet was also submitted to UTEP’s IRB. After we receive approval from both boards, the hospitalization data needed for this study set can be purchased.
- Daily air quality and weather data have been assembled for the 2005-2011 study period.
Specific Aim 2: Completed Work
- The first Faculty Pilot award is currently ongoing (i.e., Dr. Kathy Staudt’s “Community-based Participatory Research: Health Outcomes in the Westway Colonia.”). All survey data has been collected and project RAs are entering data.
- A second Faculty Pilot grant was provisionally awarded; however, the investigator declined the award after receiving feedback from NIH. Therefore, we are currently soliciting pre-proposals for this award.
- Five RAs were supported by the Environment Core during this last quarter, including 1 MA student in Sociology, 2 BA students in Sociology and 2 BS students in Engineering.
Specific Aim 3: Completed Work
- With the support of Dr. Marcelo Korc (Environmental Health Advisor of the US-Mexico Border Office of the Pan-American Health Organization [PAHO]), 40 environmental health stakeholders in the El Paso/Juárez community were identified and classified into 4 clusters: Environmental, Public Health, Social Justice and Educational.
- The themes that will be covered in a short screening survey and in focus groups involving these stakeholders have been identified. The identified themes include: characteristics; priorities; research/information needs; action/policy needs; strategies for improving communication and collaboration; and key resources for sharing.
Future Activities:
Aim 1: Upcoming Tasks in Trans-disciplinary Study #1
- EPISD Survey:
o Complete manual entry of open-ended responses.
o Create variables for analysis, e.g., cultural identity scale, respiratory health scale.
o Download census variables for census tracts in EPISD, create census scales, and nest survey participants in census tracts.
o Begin statistical analysis.
- Air Quality Surfaces:
o Complete quality control steps for spring and summer PM measurements.
o Complete fall and winter PM measurements (October and December).
o Estimate infiltration rates for ultrafine particles into homes.
- Plan conference presentations for Year 2
- Plan out manuscripts to be written using the collected data
Aim 1: Upcoming Tasks in Trans-disciplinary Study #2
- Build patient-level database
- Build daily weather and pollution database
- Begin preliminary statistical analysis
Aim 2: Upcoming Tasks
- Mentor and train two new graduate RAs in Sociology and Math
- Continue mentoring and training returning RAs (1 undergrad RA in Sociology and 2 undergrad RAs in Engineering)
Aim 3: Upcoming Tasks
- Design short screening survey for stakeholders
- Meet with clusters using focus group format
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 40 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Hispanic Health Disparities; children’s asthmaProgress 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.