Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109571

Kristy A. Siegel, MPH, CHES, Janvier Gasana, MD, MPH, PhD, Deodutta Roy, PhD, Theophile Niyonsenga, PhD, WayWay M. Hlaing, MBBS, MS, PhD, and Kathryn I. Evans. Stempel School of Public Health, Florida International University, HLSII 595, 11200 Southwest 8th Street, Miami, FL 33199, 305-348-4903, ksiegelapha@hotmail.com

One of the primary faults in the current Environmental Justice movement is the exclusion of the population that is being burdened, which are predominantly the poor and people of color. Therefore, the Miami Healthy Communities Environment Partnership project presents an innovative and interdisciplinary community-based methodology for examining and communicating the potential effects of environmental hazards on community health in three inner-city communities in Miami, Florida by partnering university researchers, a community-based organization, faith-based groups, health care providers, and a community grassroots advocacy organization with community residents and key officials. The project includes: 1) establishing a dialogue with the community residents; 2) developing responses and setting priorities with the community for health education; 3) assessing the surrounding environment and screening residents for exposures, as identified by the community; 4) educating and communicating to the residents environmental health issues and resources; and 5) increasing residents' access to care. This last step is an important one because many community-based organizations have questioned “after screening and educating, what do we do next?” Moving residents from awareness (preparation/action) to medical care (maintenance) ensures on-going health exposure reduction/mitigation and increases self-efficacy. The broad, long-term outcome of the Partnership is to strengthen community capacity and collective efficacy of residents' health and the health of their environment, thereby reducing the likelihood of developing environmentally-induced diseases, such as neurodevelopmental delays, autoimmune diseases, and cancers.

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