Perspective: A Review of Improved Ethical Practices in Environmental and Public Health Research: Case Examples From Native Communities

Abstract

This article presents a review of 14 case studies and articles of research ethics issues in the conduct of environmental and public health research with Native American and other indigenous populations. The purpose of this review is to highlight new practices in the ethical conduct of research with native community populations. The findings from this review can promote more dialogue and policy development on the issue of community protections in research. Formal guidelines exist in ethical codes for individual rights as human subjects, but there is a lack of development on community rights in the ethics of research. This review illustrates how communitybased participatory research practices can provide working guidelines that can overcome past research harms. More important, the compilations of guidelines offer tested field methods for improving the ethical conduct of research with native community populations.