The Community Outreach and Translation Core (COTC) proposes to serve as a bridge between the Center investigators and members of the community (e.g., community residents and leaders, school nurses and other health care providers, asthma coalitions, and policy makers) who are concerned about the impacts of air pollution on children's respiratory health. The COTC is designed to engage community support for the Center's research efforts and to enhance community collaboration on its CBPR project; to inform the public (at a local/regional/state/national level) and health care communities about the role of air pollution on childhood respiratory disease; to translate Center research findings, including the CBPR epidemiologic findings and related estimates of the burden of asthma-related disease, into public health action and policy, while evaluating the overall effectiveness of the program. The ultimate goal is to translate research findings into policies and actions that will reduce exposure of children to air pollution and reduce the incidence of environmentally related childhood airways disease. The COTC will build upon and expand existing partnerships with two community-based organizations: the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma and the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice in Riverside, which represent many diverse demographic groups from low-income, minority, and medically-underserved children to middle-class families. In both communities traffic-related pollutants and asthma are serious concerns. The COTC is targeting its efforts in two of the most ozone-polluted U.S. counties (San Bernardino, #1 most polluted and Riverside, #5 most polluted) and a city (Long Beach) where traffic counts near some study participants' homes reach 350,000 vehicles/day. The proposed COTC will develop and distribute innovative public health materials, including two documentary videos with Discussion Guides on the Center investigators' air pollution research results, utilizing varied dissemination mechanisms, such as health care provider workshops and community forums, and through asthma coalitions. The COTC will support the CBPR project in translating research results in the community, health care and policy arenas. A key to the COTC's success is development of community-driven """"""""Neighborhood Assessment Teams,"""""""" with members trained to document community assets and environmental health problems, using Community Toolboxes for Measuring Traffic-Related Pollutants, with ultrafine particle codnters, cameras, and other tools. Results of the CBPR project and its novel burden of disease analysis will be interpreted in the context of the work of these Teams and will provide the scientific basis for developing health-protective policies. Center scientists will be involved throughout the effort, providing technical assistance, speaking at forums and hearings, and evaluating the need for policy changes to better protect children's health. An evaluation of the COTC's effectiveness and of the CBPR/COTC collaborative process will be conducted.
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