ALERT (Assessment of Local Environmental Risk Training to Reduce Health Disparities) is a community training and research partnership to support community efforts to combat disproportionate exposure to air pollution among vulnerable populations.
 

The ALERT project trains community members and groups to understand and use scientific data on air quality in their neighborhoods, while also enhancing the ability of academics and researchers to work with communities through community-based participatory research (CBPR) trainings. Together, the ALERT project aims to pair both those "on the ground" and experts in the field to identify evidence-based policy solutions to reduce exposure to air pollution and improve community health.

Download the ALERT Project Fact Sheet

The ALERT curriculum is designed to build the capacity of community representatives to understand and analyze environmental health data, develop action plans, establish partnerships, and develop and enhance their training capacity in order to bring new knowledge and skills back to their communities.

Download the ALERT Project Curriculum & Appendices
 

ALERT funded two CBPR pilot projects in order to continue to build the capacity of CBOs to actively participate as equal partners in research projects, and to build the capacity of researchers to engage community residents in research and to be able to communicate about research and health risks effectively.

The purpose of the pilot projects was to develop an on-going community-researcher collaborative relationship with the community; engage members of that community in an environmental health research project, and collect preliminary study data that can be used in an NIEHS R01 (or similar) proposal that includes researcher-community engagement elements, and that supports the implementation of action plans in the target community. The pilot project had to demonstrate a partnership between researcher and community representatives to collaborate in the development of the project, to conduct the pilot study jointly, and to participate equally in the research process. 

Learn more about the CBPR Projects in Boyle Heights and Long Beach:

Boyle Heights CBPR Pilot Project
Long Beach CBPR Pilot Project

The ALERT project was made possible by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Grant number RC1ES018121. 

It is a collaborative project of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR), the UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), the East LA Community Corporation (ELACC), and The Children's Clinic of Long Beach (TCC).
   

Additional Resources

•ALERT Air Pollution & Environmental Health Resources
•Conference Presentations