Identifying Issues and Priorities in Reporting Back Environmental Health Data

Erin Lebow-Skelley, Sarah Yelton, Brandi Janssen, Esther Erdei and Melanie A. Pearson
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Erin Lebow-Skelley: HERCULES Exposome Research Center, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Sarah Yelton: Institute for the Environment, UNC Superfund Research Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
Brandi Janssen: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52246, USA
Esther Erdei: College of Pharmacy & Mountain West Clinical and Translational Research-Infrastructure Network, UNM Health Sciences Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Melanie A. Pearson: HERCULES Exposome Research Center, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Experts recommend reporting environmental exposure results back to research participants and communities, yet environmental health researchers need further guidance to improve the practice of reporting back. We present the results of a workshop developed to identify pertinent issues and areas for action in reporting back environmental health research results. Thirty-five attendees participated, brainstorming responses to the prompt: “What are some specific issues that are relevant to reporting back research results to individuals or the larger community?”, and then grouping responses by similarity and rating their importance. Based on a combined theoretical foundation of grounded theory and qualitative content analysis, we used concept mapping to develop a collective understanding of the issues. Visual maps of the participants’ responses were created using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. The resulting concept map provided a spatial depiction of five issue areas: Effective Communication Strategies, Community Knowledge and Concerns, Uncertainty, Empowering Action, and Institutional Review and Oversight (listed from highest to lowest rating). Through these efforts, we disentangled the complex issues affecting how and whether environmental health research results are reported back to participants and communities, by identifying five distinct themes to guide recommendations and action. Engaging community partners in the process of reporting back emerged as a unifying global theme, which could improve how researchers report back research results by understanding community context to develop effective communication methods and address uncertainty, the ability to act, and institutional concerns about beneficence and justice.

Keywords: concept mapping; research report-back; environmental health; community engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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