5065.0: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 8:30 AM

Abstract #26490

A university-community collaboration with Navajo uranium miners

Doug Brugge, PhD, MS, Department of Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave. (MV1), Boston, MA 02111, (617) 636-0326, dbrugge@aol.com

The method was a collaboration of academic faculty and students with community activists and agency staff.  We successfully met our original goals.  The book that we produced is in its third printing, bringing to 5,800 the number of copies in circulation, the majority distributed free of charge to Navajos.  The exhibit has been viewed in 8 full shows and 7 informal showings coast to coast with a combined audience greater than 5,000.  Local and national media coverage has been generated and several web sites feature virtual exhibits from the project.  We feel that our primary objective, education of Navajos and non-Navajo audiences, has been largely successful and will likely continue to be for some time, if not indefinitely.  The use of the book in Navajo language classes is also possible. Interestingly, a secondary objective, generating scientific hypotheses related to research needs among the mining populations has succeeded in contributing to emerging policy debates about exposures to family members who lived near the mines.  The approach we employed was also of interest to other environmentally affected communities as a model.

Learning Objectives: N/A

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Occupational Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA