Participatory research strategies in nuclear risk management for native communities

he Nuclear Risk Management for Native Communities (NRMNC) project is a coll aborative academic, community-based, tribal project, which conducts the thr ee essential elements of participatory research: research, education, and c ommunity action, named here as "community-based hazards management." This a rticle describes the goals and outcomes of this effort in assisting Native American communities in Nevada, Utah, and Southern California affected by n uclear fallout from U.S. weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s. The NRMNC project sought to create new models for dealing with health research and ri sk communication needs in an environmental justice setting. The following r esults of this four-year project are discussed: (1) building a community-ba sed environmental health infrastructure, (2) building community capacities through workshops and educational materials, (3) conducting both technical and community research, and (4) facilitating community-based hazards manage ment planning. We describe such positive outcomes as the improvements in th e scientific database through participatory research activities, the develo pment of equitable relationships between scientists and community members, and the creation of a sustaining program intervention for long-term communi ty needs. The project's outcomes are presented as an expansion to limited s cientific risk management outcomes in the environmental health field that o ften are solely quantitative and lack relevance to community concerns about environmental health impacts from contamination.