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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jamie L. Donatuto, PhD(c), Planning Dept, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, PO Box 817, 11430 Moorage Way, La Conner, WA 98257, 360-466-1532, donatuto@interchange.ubc.ca, Theresa Satterfield, PhD, Associate Professor of Culture, Risk, and the Environment, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada, and Robin Gregory, PhD, Decision Research, 1124 West 19th St., North Vancouver, BC V7P1Z9, Canada.

Current risk assessment models do not capture the myriad health effects from consuming contaminated subsistence foods; only physical health outcomes are measured. Yet many Indigenous communities view health as an interconnection between social, cultural, mental and physical factors that cannot be assessed separately. This presentation will describe a method to: 1) collect data in a culturally appropriate manner on how contamination negatively impacts the four aforementioned health factors in the context of one Native American community in Washington State; 2) use data collected to assess how contamination impacts the current health status in this community; 3) collect data in a culturally appropriate manner regarding a community's “outcome determinations”—their public health goals; and 4) articulate how, if outcome determinations are endeavored, the health status of the community would improve.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Identify the four major components of human health to a Native American community that must be included in risk assessments and why it is important to include them.
• Recognize how contaminated subsistence foods impact the health status of a Native American community.
• Describe a culturally competent methodology for collecting data on the health effects of contamination and the outcome determinations in a Native American community.
• Articulate factors used in assessing how contamination impacts the current health status of the community.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered