The Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) Community Engagement Core (CEC) is recognized as a bi-directional resource for communities, Center members, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, particularly regarding engagement with tribal communities. Located in the arid Southwest, the SWEHSC addresses exposures to environmental toxicants that are unique to the region. The primary tribal and non-tribal health concerns in the communities of Arizona include cancer, diabetes, and asthma, due to prevalent environmental exposures to airborne particulate matter, forest fire smoke, arsenic and other metals in drinking water, and to indoor and outdoor environmental chemicals. The CEC utilizes community-based and tribally driven principles for engaging community members and researchers in the investigation of environmentally related diseases, focusing on three target audiences: Community, Policy Makers, and Educators, all of which have overlapping, yet distinct, environmental health (EH) information needs. Using a ?Synergistic Cascading Model of Engagement? the CEC develops and maintains bi-directional partnerships to conduct and evaluate events, which usually include presentations, hands-on activities, and take home materials. The efforts of the CEC work stem from four interconnected specific aims to engage tribal community members, policy makers, and educators; to educate youth and their parents on the spectrum of Center research; to advance the field of community engagement and build research capacity; and to provide professional development for the general public and tribal K-14 educators.
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