""""""""Environmental Impacts on Arab Americans in Metro Detroit"""""""" is aimed at increasing environmental health awareness and reducing adverse health effects of disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards on low-income Arab Americans in Metropolitan Detroit. The project builds on an existing partnership between the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), a community-based organization serving the low-income Arab American community in Metropolitan Detroit, and the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The project draws upon the experience and expertise of the University in community-based public health research, ACCESS's experience in environmental justice, health, and outreach programs, and well-developed networks in the target community. Specific objectives of the project are to 1) ensure strong community participation in project planning, implementation, and evaluation through creation of a Steering Committee and a Community Council, which will involve diverse community stakeholders; 2) form Work Groups including community members, health care providers and researchers to provide expertise in specific project areas, including Community-based Pilot Project, Household Intervention, Community Intervention, and Medical Access and Treatment; 3) develop a Community Action Plan based on data gathered from focus group sessions, household assessments, and TV call-in shows in the target community; 4) develop a culturally appropriate household intervention program using Community Environmental Health Specialists, aimed at increasing knowledge, reducing exposure to environmental hazards, and improving health status of the target community; 5) conduct a community-driven pilot research project on the disproportionate exposure of children to contaminants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in their environment; 6) communicate research results and environmental health messages to community members through culturally appropriate community-level education programs, utilizing local Arabic media and community seminars, to increase awareness and build community capacity to address environmental hazards; 7) communicate results to health care providers in the community through a conference; 8) undertake a process and impact evaluation using data collected through multiple methods to evaluate the success of the project, including household and community intervention programs; 9) establish a bilingual web site that deals primarily with environmental health issues that would be of interest to other Arab communities in this country and elsewhere.
