Building community capacity in environmental health: The Community Action Against Asthma example

The Community Action Against Asthma combined an intervention study to reduce environmental triggers for childhood asthma at the household and neighborhood level with an epidemiologic study of the relationship between ambient and indoor air quality exposures (e.g., ozone and particulate matter 2.5 and 10) and children's lung function and other asthma-related health indicators. As part of the neighborhood level intervention, activities focused on community organizing and engagement of community groups in education processes around environmental health. For example, CAAA staff worked with a local Detroit school to educate parents on implications of environmental contaminants found at the school and facilitated the creation of an action plan that satisfied parent's concerns. In another example, CAAA community and academic partners shared research results and their implications with local advisory boards for transportation and other projects with environmental health implications. This presentation will describe CAAA's strategy and share accomplishments, challenges and lessons learned through this process.