Engaging the Community
A few days after first learning of the Libby situation, Cline contacted the clinical social worker at CARD, who also functions as the behavioral researcher coordinator. Over the past 10 years, CARD has developed an array of research partners across the country addressing science as diverse as cellular biology, genomics, autoimmune disorders, mineralology, and pulmonology.
Cline told Hernandez of her interest in conducting research in Libby. Thus began a partnership with community “insiders” collaborating to conduct community-based research.A few months later, Cline first visited Libby in order to become less of an outsider in a town with strong inside/outside boundaries. The external investigators met with various representatives of asbestos-issue interest groups, beginning with Hernandez and CARD (clinic staff, Board of Directors). The team held meetings with the EPA and EPA-community liaison groups formed at Superfund sites (Community Advisory Group and Technical Advisory Group). They met with numerous health professionals and organizations. Meetings were held with key political and public figures (e.g., advocates, the mayor, county commissioners, and a local newspaper reporter). Hernandez also provided a tour of key asbestos sites so that the investigators could visualize locations and their significance when subsequently conducting focus groups and interviews.
This was only the beginning of an engaging, cyclical, and iterative research process. Two months after the initial visit, Cline’s team conducted focus groups and interviews in Libby. One year after data collection, Cline returned to Libby for a week in order to give preliminary reports on the focus group investigation to various stakeholders and constituencies. About 1 year after the reporting visit, the research team conducted a populationbased survey of residents in the Libby area zip code in order to develop quantitative data regarding themes and trends found in the focus group analyses. Since then, in 2010 and 2011, the researchers returned to Libby to participate in research reporting meetings, including a 2011 formal research symposium. The symposium brought together two-dozen researchers from nearly as many disciplines to interact with each other and the community about research results and plans for future research. Cline’s presentation focused on community dynamics, beginning with the palpable dimensions of conflict revealed in Libby (Cline & Orom, 2011; Orom et al., 2012).