Improving Latino Youths' Environmental Health Literacy and Leadership Skills Through Participatory Research on Chemical Exposures in Cosmetics

Abstract

To increase environmental health literacy (EHL) and leadership skills in Latino youth in Salinas, CA., we worked from 2012-2015 with 15 members of the CHAMACOS Youth Community Council (YCC), an outreach arm of a longitudinal study of impacts of environmental chemicals on children's health. The YCC program provided hands-on research experiences related to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) in cosmetics and their possible health effects. We use participatory research principles and Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives to describe the development of EHC and leadership in the youth co-researchers. Using data from multiple qualitative sources, we explore the youths' engagement in a wide range of research and action processes. Promising outcomes, including perceptions of improved youth self-esteem, EHL, leadership, and career orientation are discussed, as are challenges, such as time constraints and high priority youth concerns not addressed by the study. Implications for other youth-engaged participatory science and leadership programs are presented.

Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk

“…Is there anything else we need to know?” which allowed for participants to fill in gaps of the formal presentation with local knowledge. The critical role of local context in EHL education aligns with complementary research in the fields of health communication, environmental communication, and science education [17,23,25,27,57,58,59]. …”

“…As other scholars have discussed, EHL is highly contextual and it thus presents challenges for creating generalizable education or evaluation materials [17,26,27]. Relevant knowledge and awareness for EHL is specific to the community, the environmental health risks present, and the broader ecological, economic, and political dynamics of these risks.…”

“…As the mitigation or prevention of community-level environmental health risk often requires coordinated action, scholars have identified the need for EHL to not only include knowledge and efficacy for personal environmental health actions, but also for community level action [8,12,15]. Case studies have demonstrated increasing EHL as an effective strategy to equip environmental health risk community members to develop and implement their own contextually appropriate strategies for addressing environmental health risk [9,12,16,17,18]. Thus, increasing EHL in environmental health risk communities is a strategy for realizing environmental justice.…”

“…The Contextual Model of Learning, as proposed by Falk and Dierking [20], asserts that, “learning can be conceptualized as a contextually driven effort to make meaning in order to survive and prosper within the world; an effort that is best viewed as a continuous, never-ending dialogue between the individual and his or her physical and sociocultural environment” [21]. Research has shown people learn more when content is grounded in local culture and context [22,23,24], and when participants’ knowledge, beliefs, and experiences are shared and honored in a participatory learning experience [16,17,25]. Previous EHL research has emphasized the contextual nature of defining and evaluating EHL, and the importance of matching learning content to specific local environmental health risk factors [17,26,27].…”

“…Research has shown people learn more when content is grounded in local culture and context [22,23,24], and when participants’ knowledge, beliefs, and experiences are shared and honored in a participatory learning experience [16,17,25]. Previous EHL research has emphasized the contextual nature of defining and evaluating EHL, and the importance of matching learning content to specific local environmental health risk factors [17,26,27]. …”