Leona F. Davis|Mónica D. Ramírez?Andreotta
Participatory Research for Environmental Justice: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis
University of Arizona|University of Arizona
background environmental health risks disproportionately colocated communities poverty communities colorin cases participatory research projects effectively addressed structural causes health risk environmental justice ej communitieshowever many projects fail catalyze change structural levelobjectives review employs critical interpretive synthesis cis theorize specific elements participatory research environmental health effectively prompt structural change ej communitiesmethods academic database search used identify peerreviewed literature describing participatory research ej communities address environmental healthsynthetic constructs developed iteratively related study characteristics design elements outcomes data extracted included recordsstatistical analyses performed assess correlations study design elements structural change outcomesthrough critical comparative contextual analyses structural change case study group nonstructural change group informed relevant theoretical literature synthesizing argument generatedresults 505 total records identified eligibility screening produced 232 case study articles representing 154 case studies 55 theoretical articles synthesistwentysix case studies resulted structural change outcomethe synthesizing argument states participatory research ej communities may likely result structural change community members hold formal leadership roles b project design includes decisionmakers policy goals c long term partnerships sustained multiple funding mechanismsthe assumption ej community benefit research participation critically examined