Public health nursing regards community as client. Environmental promotion at the community level considers the many environmental influences in the community that contribute to the health of the population. Common considerations include: water, air, soil, indoor environments, disease vectors, waste disposal and waste treatment. Another environmental influence is the ecological relationship of the community to the ecosystem in which it functions. Ecosystem functions provide us with the most basic life requirements, food, available water, oxygen and a suitable climate. As human activity exerts increasing changes on ecosystems, concern increases that these changes are jeopardizing the ability of ecosystems to sustain healthy human populations. Some neuroses must be educated to understand the ecosystems affect community health. Participatory action research will be used with an American Indian community to collaboratively assess EH concerns, gather needed information to facilitate addressing those concerns and develop action plans to mitigate the identified EH problems. This project will be conducted in partnership with relevant faculty members from the community college on the reservation. Participatory action research melds education with investigation and action to solve community problems. As its name suggests, it proceeds in collaboration with community members and enables a process of local problem solving.
| Severtson, Dolores J; Baumann, Linda C; Brown, Roger L (2008) Applying the common sense model to measure representations of arsenic contaminated well water. J Health Commun 13:538-54 |
| Severtson, Dolores J; Baumann, Linda C; Brown, Roger L (2006) Applying a health behavior theory to explore the influence of information and experience on arsenic risk representations, policy beliefs, and protective behavior. Risk Anal 26:353-68 |
| Severtson, Dolores J; Baumann, Linda C; Will, James A (2002) A participatory assessment of environmental health concerns in an Ojibwa community. Public Health Nurs 19:47-58 |
