Reporting back environmental exposure data and free choice learning

Abstract

Reporting data back to study participants is increasingly being integrated into exposure and biomonitoring studies. Informal science learning opportunities are valuable in environmental health literacy efforts and report back efforts are filling an important gap in these efforts. Using the University of Arizona’s Metals Exposure Study in Homes, this commentary reflects on how community-engaged exposure assessment studies, partnered with data report back efforts are providing a new informal education setting and stimulating free-choice learning. Participants are capitalizing on participating in research and leveraging their research experience to meet personal and community environmental health literacy goals. Observations from report back activities conducted in a mining community support the idea that reporting back biomonitoring data reinforces free-choice learning and this activity can lead to improvements in environmental health literacy. By linking the field of informal science education to the environmental health literacy concepts, this commentary demonstrates how reporting data back to participants is tapping into what an individual is intrinsically motivated to learn and how these efforts are successfully responding to community-identified education and research needs.

Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk

“…The natural interdependence of science literacy, health literacy, and environmental literacy have led to the evolution of current environmental health literacy (EHL) frameworks [8,9,10,11,12,13]. The Society for Public Health Education states that EHL “integrates concepts from both environmental literacy and health literacy to develop the wide range of skills and competencies that people need in order to seek out, comprehend, evaluate, and use environmental health information to make informed choices, reduce health risks, improve quality of life and protect the environment” [14].…”

Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice through Environmental Exposure Results Communication

“…At its most fundamental level, EHL involves “an understanding of the connection between environmental exposures and human health” [ 24 ]. The definition of EHL is expanding from a quiescent, unidirectional model (knowledge acquisition) towards an action-based model that provides individuals and communities with the tools and information to understand their risks and to exert control over the environmental exposures that may lead to adverse health outcomes [ 24 , 25 ]. Reporting bio- and environmental monitoring data back to participants in environmental public health projects has proven to be a successful way in which to raise EHL.…”

“…Reporting bio- and environmental monitoring data back to participants in environmental public health projects has proven to be a successful way in which to raise EHL. The literature reveals that participants of biomonitoring studies with a report back effort: (1) generally want their results; (2) learn a great deal about environmental health when studies reported individual results along with comparative benchmarks and some sort of interpretive context; (3) understand results without undue alarm; (4) increase their understanding of the scientific method; (5) self-initiate new networking in resource-related issues; (6) began to consider possible exposure reduction strategies; and (7) leverage the report back results to inform government officials to be more stringent in their cleanup efforts [ 6 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Distinct frameworks have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of these reporting back efforts and they include clinical ethics and community-based participatory research.…”

“…It is “a device for organizing the complexities of learning within free-choice settings”, with a foundational understanding that learning is a complex phenomenon situated within a series of contexts over time: personal, sociocultural, and physical [ 29 ]. Recognizing that reporting back exposure data is carving out a new informal education setting (learning outside of school classrooms) and is stimulating free-choice learning (learning that is driven by the needs and interests of the learner rather than an external authority), it is appropriate to pull frameworks and methodologies from the discipline of informal science education [ 25 ]. The Contextual Model of Learning recognizes the strong influences on individual’s learning and actions in the short- and long-term, including: (1) prior knowledge, experience, motivations, expectations, and degree of choice and control over learning (personal); (2) cultural and social relationships, cultural values and the interactions with others in their own social group as well as interactions with educators outside their common social group (sociocultural); and (3) placed-based experiences and one’s interface with the environment (physical).…”

Engaging Diverse Citizen Scientists for Environmental Health: Recommendations from Participants and <i>Promotoras</i>

“…This observed open data sharing act among participants served as an additional mechanism for relationship building and social participation in learning. Ample literature documents the importance of data report back in environmental health research (Brody et al 2014;Perovich et al 2018;Ramirez-Andreotta et al 2016;Vousden et al 2014). The benefits from data sharing events observed here suggest that designing for relationship building and social negotiation of knowledge can deepen participants' sense of connection to the project, the study purpose, and each other.…”