Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Raymond Hyatt, PhD¹, David Mueller Gute, Ph, D, MPH², Helen Page, Ed D³, Alex Pirie, BA⁴, Rose Goldman, MD, MPH⁵, Anne Marie Desmarais, MSPH², and Mark Woodin⁶. (1) Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, 617-636-6926, Raymond.Hyatt@tufts.edu, (2) Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, (3) Office of the Vice Provost, Tufts University, 20 Professors Row, Medford, MA 02155, (4) Somerville Community Corporation, Immigrant Services Provider Group, One Davis Square, Suite 213, Somerville, MA 02144, (5) Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Macht, Room 427, Cambridge, MA 02139, (6) Civil & Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Anderson Hall, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155

Of the factors identified as defining a community-based participatory research project (CBPR), transfer of research capability to community partners is foundational. Among the first tasks of a collaboration between Tufts University and six diverse community organizations was the design of interview instruments to assess occupational health needs among immigrant workers. This needs assessment relied on the ability of our team to gain access to immigrant workers and employers in Somerville, MA. A critical issue in initiating the transfer of research capability was the protection of human subjects. Information on human subjects' abuses, protections, and the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is not widely held in the community. Particularly when working with a vulnerable population such as immigrant workers who may be undocumented and working for unregistered employers, the risks to participants may be significant. Surprisingly, we found that initial concerns for the acquisition of information among community partners with little prior research history (excluding our health care partners with substantial research experience) would have led to protocols with insufficient protection for human subjects. The academic researchers from Tufts University with IRB certification contributed informal human subjects training within research meetings and involved research administrators from the University. We present findings from the process research and analysis of this phase of the project and offer suggestions for involving an IRB, assessing the level of human subjects knowledge and experience among community partners, and provide examples of successful transfer of human subjects knowledge in a CBPR environmental justice project.

Learning Objectives: