On June 8, 2015 PROTECT researchers Dr. Carmen Vélez and Dr. Liza Anzalota visited PROTECT-affiliated health clinic PRYMed in the municipality of Ciales, Puerto Rico. During this meeting the PROTECT team shared research findings with key leaders at PRYMED and continued to work on community engagement activities important for the people of Ciales. Ms. Angeles Cardona, head of the Nursing Department, reinforced the importance of working with the local community and healthcare professionals in the development of workshops to empower them on the basics of research activities (informed consent, recruitment, data collection, interpretation of study results) and environmental health communication.
Ms Cardona stressed that “it is important that we provide research findings to stakeholders and to the people in our communities because they are exposed to the contamination on a daily basis and they are not aware of the health hazards”. Amarylis Alvarez, health educator at PRYMed, also shared her work with local high students and explored new opportunities to reach this target group. A series of workshops will be planned with local leaders to reach the needs of the community in the karst region and empower them with new citizen science tools.