Redesigning a Participatory Health Study for a French Industrial Context

Abstract

The Marseille, France, metropolitan area is home to a heavily concentrated industrial region directly adjacent to residential communities. These towns have been subjected to a wide variety of social science and public health studies, but residents continue to have many questions about health concerns for which they currently have primarily anecdotal evidence. Reflecting on our in-progress research in two of these towns, we argue that community-based participatory research that draws from both social science and public health science can be successfully adapted to the French political and cultural context and is key for developing environmental health research that is relevant for community residents and local leaders. Understanding and working within the customs of the local values and practices culture is critical for community-based participatory research regardless of location but is particularly paramount when working in non-United States contexts, since local values and practices will shape the particular techniques used within the community-based participatory research framework.

Strongly Participatory Science and Knowledge Justice in an Environmentally Contested Region

“…However, local residents can have differing observations regarding the health and environmental impact of these facilities in the communities, but, without science to back them up, they have a difficult time being heard or their observations taken seriously. This lack of relevant science, or “undone science” ( Hess 2016 ), can underlie power differentials between citizens and corporations or government and can be due to institutional norms and disciplinary practices ( Allen et al 2016 ), but the result is the same—no science answering the citizens’ questions.…”

“… 12. For an in-depth discussion of the interdisciplinary methodology and the specifics of translating CBPEH to a French context, see Allen et al (2016 ). …”

Collaborative Workshops for Community Meaning-Making and Data Analyses: How Focus Groups Strengthen Data by Enhancing Understanding and Promoting Use

“…The social integration of knowledge via collaborative analysis leads to a stronger and more relevant report compared to socially remote knowledge that is contained in official state studies or regulatory permitting documents [14]. It is counter to regulatory science that often does not speak to lay-people and the ways in which they live and navigate their neighborhoods and places of work.…”

“…Citizen frustration grew from the lack of relevant information. A petition requesting health data was circulated garnering more than 4000 signatures and several dozen residents participated in a sit-in at the French health service’s regional offices, only to be escorted off the property by riot police (for more details, see Allen et al [14]). Our phase one study revealed numerous chronic illnesses that were much higher than the French population.…”

Making effective participatory environmental health science through collaborative data analysis

“…Typically, the local population had suspicions about illnesses in their community, only to be told otherwise by state officials (Allen 2003(Allen , 2014. In the case of France there were no less than a dozen environmental health studies conducted for the benefit of the local residents living in the Étang de Berre industrial region, all showing there was little cause for concern or that there was too much uncertainty in the results such that more studies needed to be done (Allen et al 2016). There were no studies verifying the illnesses that the local residents and their doctors saw on a regular basis.…”