Minority-focused Environmental Health Education and Tracking Pilot Study

Environmental Exposure

bisphenols, parabens, phthalates, endocrine disrupting chemicals, EDCs

The goal of this study is identify educational material related to EDC exposures that is culturally appropriate for the black community and test the usability of the material. The main questions this study aims to answer are: 1. identify problematic lifestyle behaviors and products in a minority population that may contribute to harmful exposures and subsequently determine the most effective and sustainable lifestyle recommendations to reduce exposures; 2. develop culturally appropriate educational EDC EHL materials by collaborating with community groups and adapting from Million Marker's existing extensive online educational resources and recommendations; 3. integrate developed educational materials and targeted recommendations in existing Million Marker platform and test the usability of the material using a cohort of 100 black community members.

Integrate and test the usability of MEET. Use design iteration process to integrate developed educational materials and targeted recommendations in existing Million Marker platform and test the usability of the material using a cohort of 100 black community members. The education material and recommendations developed for this project updates/adds on to the current Million Marker educational platform. This updated platform, MEET will incorporate culturally-sensitive feedback for an African American population. MEET will utilize a friendly user interface, and multiple options for engagement and incorporation of science translation/education. The investigators will use eligibility criteria to recruit additional study participants that are: a) aged 18 and older; b) able to understand written and spoken English; c) owning a smartphone; and d) willing to complete all study assessments. Recruitment will be assisted by BCI's community advisory board. Again, investigators will utilize existing BCI's network, mailing lists and social media promotion to recruit potential participants. The investigators expect to enroll approximately 50% women and 100% African American. The feasibility and usability testing will be conducted virtually. Recruited and consented community members (n=100) will use the platform for 4 weeks. Pre and post surveys will completed at the beginning and after 4 weeks. Surveys will cover environmental health and internet literacy, health app use, readiness to change and perceived identity, product use and breast cancer risk. The survey results will identify gaps in user perception and awareness to inform our education and marketing strategies. The investigators hypothesize that participants' environmental health literacy, attitudes, knowledge and behaviors will change after using MEET and receiving their personalized recommendations. The changes in participants' behaviors will be compared and assessed by examining the changes in lifestyle behaviors and product use, which will be captured through participants' exposure journals. The investigators expect to see a reduction in using EDC containing products, touching receipts, using less plastics, etc. Participants will also fill out an adapted System Usability Score (SUS)79 to assess users' perception of usability of the platform. The investigators expect to obtain high SUS scores, and will address any deficiencies based on SUS results and user feedback. Follow up surveys will be compared in order to assess trends over time, and begin to incorporate user feedback and behavior into the platform. Information collected will also inform our Phase II grant and future research studies. The investigators will assess changes in participants' environmental health literacy, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors after using MEET. Summary statistics will be generated on participants' responses. Changes will be calculated based on paired values of individual responses. The investigators will analyze percentage changes by individual responses as well as response categories (attitude, knowledge and behaviors). A Chi-square goodness of fit test will be used for pre-post comparisons. For pre-post category comparisons within individual participants, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test will be used to compare the differences. The expected sample size of 100 will provide sufficient power to detect a difference in participant behaviors and attitudes at baseline (before using MEET) and after using MEET.

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United States