Abstract
Reclaiming ancestral pilipinx roots: Healing in nature through the pamana project
Alyssa Gimenez, B.S.
San Francisco State University, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
APHA 2021 Annual Meeting and Expo
The anxiety, stress, and social unrest sweeping the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates sustainable interventions for recovery and resilience to attain health equity for all communities, including Pilipinx. The COVID-19 pandemic has especially exacerbated anti-Asian sentiment, increasing stress for the Pilipinx community that remains understudied. The Pilipinx taking Action to Maximize and Amplify Nature Access (PAMANA) Project investigates the relationship between stress reduction in nature and telomere length for Pilipinx living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Forest environments in particular have been found to improve physiological markers for health, such as blood pressure, cortisol levels, and heart rate. Similarly, it is expected that a nature-based intervention designed for the Pilipinx community will reduce self-reported and biological stress, as well as decrease telomere degradation as a marker for overall wellness. By working with Pilipinx community organizations in the Bay Area, the collection of saliva from self-identifying Pilipinx individuals will be conducted before and after each nature intervention to determine telomere length. Additionally, development of a novel Pilipinx Mental Health Survey (PMHS) tailored specifically for Pilipinx individuals will be used to measure effective, equitable, and sustainable interventions for stress reduction wellness promotion. The long-term goal of the PAMANA Project is to advance health equity for Pilipinx through culturally relevant, pre-colonial, and traditional healing interventions in nature. Completion of this project will reclaim green spaces and encourage Pilipinx in San Francisco to find healing in nature.
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs Advocacy for health and health education Diversity and culture Public health biology Public health or related research Social and behavioral sciences