The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50512

John E Vena, PhD, Alison Howe, Ausar Africa, Akua Assata, Peter Rogerson, and Julian J Ambrus, PhD. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, SUNY at Buffalo, 270 Farber Hall, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214, (716) 829-2975, X 602, Jvena@buffalo.edu

The Environment and Society Institute (ESI) and the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine are utilizing a community-based participatory research approach on Buffalo’s east side to address concerns about pollution from toxic waste and point sources of pollution and a cluster of autoimmune disease. The target area of 11,000 people of predominantly African-American ethnicity is impacted by brownfields and hazardous waste sites. The estimated crude prevalence rate among women for systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) is 200 per 100,000.

We will report on the community-based participatory research methods that have been employed, including the framework to undertake tasks and set goals, the function of the active steering committee and support staff from the community and the development of the memorandum of understanding. Activities employed to nurture the University-community partnerships will be highlighted. We will report on the progress in meeting the first year objectives of 1) inventorying waste sites and point sources of pollution and documenting potential exposure pathways, 2) evaluating the identified cluster of SLE in the target population, 3) the modification of the autoimmune disease registry to meet the needs and concerns of the community partners and 4) development and implementation of community education about autoimmune disease and the registry.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. The participant will be able to list gender and ethnic risks associated with systemic lupus erethryametosus (SLE), as well as symptoms of this complex autoimmune disorder.
• 2. The participant will be able to discuss anecdotal evidence linking SLE incidence in environmentally overburdened communities with specific chemical exposures.
• 3. The participant will be able to recognize the utility of community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches in the conduct of lupus screening, genetic screening, exposure assessments and etiological studies.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Lupus

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.