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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
Session: Practical Science: Why Community-Driven Research Initiatives Are More Effective
3099.0: Monday, December 12, 2005: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Oral
Practical Science: Why Community-Driven Research Initiatives Are More Effective
How can scientists/public health researchers and academics work in effective partnerships with communities? Communities need quality scientific data (health and environmental data) to advocate for changes that will improve the health of their communities. Community-driven health science combines community “expert” knowledge and scientist “expert” knowledge leading to useful assessments, studies and research because it is designed, administered, analyzed and interpreted by both community members and scientists. This type of scientific research is especially important for poor, people of color and Native American communities fighting for environmental justice because the target is not only improved health through healthcare services and health policy changes but also improved quality of life through improvements in water quality, urban and rural planning, zoning laws, housing standards, quality of education, transportation routes and civic participation. The purpose of this session is to highlight four community organizing efforts that have used scientist ‘technical’ knowledge to carry out research and applied the results to improve community grassroots organizing work.
Learning Objectives: 1. To describe three strategies or methods used by community members to work in collaboration with scientists to conduct research as co-principal investigators on scientific research projects. 2. To explain five case examples of the ways in which research and science are used as a tool to support community organizing initiatives. 3. To describe the difference between use of science in a grassroots environmental justice organizing model versus health and environmental research initiated and conducted solely by scientists.
Organizer(s):Aditi Vaidya
Bianca Encinias
Moderator(s):Aditi Vaidya
10:30 AMAchieving Environmental Health and Justice Through Effective Collaborations around San Antonio’s former Kelly Air Force Base
Genaro Lopez
10:48 AMBody Burdens of the Y’upik People  [ Recorded presentation ]
Viola Waghiyi
11:06 AMA Community-driven Collaborative Effort to Assess Environmental Health in South Central Los Angeles
Robin Cannon
11:24 AMMaintaining Scientific Integrity in a Community-Driven Grassroots Collaboration with Universities and Federal Agencies in Anniston, Alabama
Shirley Baker
11:42 AMProtecting the Agricultural History and Cultural Identity of the South Valley Through a Public Health, Environmental Research and Land Use Redevelopment Collaboration  [ Recorded presentation ]
Sylvia Ledesma
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.
Organized by:Environment
Endorsed by:Academic Public Health Caucus; Community-Based Public Health Caucus; Epidemiology; Public Health Education and Health Promotion
CE Credits:CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA