Outcomes from Returning Individual versus Only Study-Wide Biomonitoring Results in an Environmental Exposure Study Using the Digital Exposure Report-Back Interface (DERBI)

Brody, Julia Green; Cirillo, Piera M.; Boronow, Katherine E.; Havas, Laurie; Plumb, Marj; Susmann, Herbert; Gajos, Krzysztof Z.; Cohn, Barbara A.

doi:10.1289/ehp9072

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…While dissemination of research results is beginning to grow, there are several groups to turn to for guidance. For example, researchers from Silent Spring have successfully communicated results using digital web-based formats [90], while researchers from the University of Arizona partnered with Community Health Representatives to deliver study results to participants [91]. Engaging youth offers yet another invigorating method to deliver research results, as is the case of researchers from the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health [92].…”

Section: Data Ownership-collectivementioning

confidence: 99%

An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science

Horne

Alcala

Peltier

et al. 2022

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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On the 30th anniversary of the Principles of Environmental Justice established at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991 (Principles of Environmental Justice), we continue to call for these principles to be more widely adopted. We propose an environmental justice framework for exposure science to be implemented by all researchers. This framework should be the standard and not an afterthought or trend dismissed by those who believe that science should not be politicized. Most notably, this framework should be centered on the community it seeks to serve. Researchers should meet with community members and stakeholders to learn more about the community, involve them in the research process, collectively determine the environmental exposure issues of highest concern for the community, and develop sustainable interventions and implementation strategies to address them. Incorporating community “funds of knowledge” will also inform the study design by incorporating the knowledge about the issue that community members have based on their lived experiences. Institutional and funding agency funds should also be directed to supporting community needs both during the “active” research phase and at the conclusion of the research, such as mechanisms for dissemination, capacity building, and engagement with policymakers. This multidirectional framework for exposure science will increase the sustainability of the research and its impact for long-term success.

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Section: Data Ownership-collectivementioning

confidence: 99%

An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science

Horne

Alcala

Peltier

et al. 2022

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…In the early 2000s, individual results return was considered controversial due to concerns about appropriately communicating uncertainty about the meaning of results and the potential to create additional stress and anxiety among study participants [ 27 ]. However, many investigators have found that participants in community-based environmental health research projects want to receive their results, find their results informative and useful, and sometimes take action on the basis of their results [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 27 , 28 ]. Today, results return processes are widely incorporated into environmental health research plans and were recommended in a 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Returning Individual Tap Water Testing Results to Research Study Participants after a Wildfire Disaster

Behren

Wong

Morales

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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After the devastating wildfire that destroyed most of the town of Paradise, California in 2018, volatile organic compounds were found in water distribution pipes. Approximately 11 months after the fire, we collected tap water samples from 136 homes that were still standing and tested for over 100 chemicals. Each participant received a customized report showing the laboratory findings from their sample. Our goal was to communicate individual water results and chemical information rapidly in a way that was understandable, scientifically accurate, and useful to participants. On the basis of this process, we developed a framework to illustrate considerations and priorities that draw from best practices of previous environmental results return research and crisis communication, while also addressing challenges specific to the disaster context. We also conducted a follow-up survey on participants’ perceptions of the results return process. In general, participants found the results return communications to be understandable, and they felt less worried about their drinking water quality after receiving the information. Over one-third of the participants reported taking some kind of action around their water usage habits after receiving their results. Communication with participants is a critical element of environmental disaster research, and it is important to have a strategy to communicate results that achieves the goals of timeliness, clarity, and scientific accuracy, ultimately empowering people toward actions that can reduce exposure.

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“…This study occurs in the PROTECT study area: the Northern Karst region of Puerto Rico that contains 10 of the 22 EPA Superfund hazardous waste sites on the island [ 15 ] (see Fig 2 ). Risk of Superfund contaminants reaching the groundwater (and ultimately tap water) is high in Puerto Rico as many of these sites are unlined landfills that overlie karst aquifers, which are highly permeable pathways for exposure to contamination [ 16 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mi PROTECT: A personalized smartphone platform to report back results to participants of a maternal-child and environmental health research cohort program in Puerto Rico

Cordero

Previdi²,

Torres³

et al. 2023

PLOS Digit Health

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Background The PROTECT Center is a multi-project initiative that studies the relationship between exposure to environmental contaminants and preterm births during the prenatal and postnatal period among women living in Puerto Rico. PROTECT’s Community Engagement Core and Research Translation Coordinator (CEC/RTC) play a key role in building trust and capacity by approaching the cohort as an engaged community that provides feedback about processes, including how personalized results of their exposure to chemicals should be reported back. The goal of the Mi PROTECT platform was to create a mobile-based application of DERBI (Digital Exposure Report-Back Interface) for our cohort that provides tailored, culturally appropriate information about individual contaminant exposures as well as education on chemical substances and approaches to exposure reduction. Methods Participants (N = 61) were presented with commonly used terms in environmental health research related to collected samples and biomarkers, followed by a guided training on accessing and exploring the Mi PROTECT platform. Participants evaluated the guided training and Mi PROTECT platform answering a Likert scale in separated surveys that included 13 and 8 questions, respectively. Results Participants provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on the clarity and fluency of presenters in the report-back training. Most participants reported that the mobile phone platform was both accessible and easy to navigate (83% and 80%, respectively) and that images included in the platform facilitated comprehension of the information. Overall, most participants (83%) reported that language, images, and examples in Mi PROTECT strongly represented them as Puerto Ricans. Conclusions Findings from the Mi PROTECT pilot test informed investigators, community partners and stakeholders by demonstrating a new way to promote stakeholder participation and foster the “research right-to-know.”

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Outcomes from Returning Individual versus Only Study-Wide Biomonitoring Results in an Environmental Exposure Study Using the Digital Exposure Report-Back Interface (DERBI)

Cited by 16 publications

References 28 publications

An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science

An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science

Returning Individual Tap Water Testing Results to Research Study Participants after a Wildfire Disaster

Mi PROTECT: A personalized smartphone platform to report back results to participants of a maternal-child and environmental health research cohort program in Puerto Rico

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