Clean air, good health Nairobi: creative, participatory lung health research (360G-Wellcome-218935_Z_19_Z)

Air pollution is a global health priority, leading to reduced life expectancy and increased respiratory disease. Air pollution is high in major cities, with residents of informal settlements particularly badly affected. A previous project, AIR Network, successfully used innovative creative methods to raise air pollution awareness in Mukuru, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. The current project, which emerged from community consultations, will extend AIR Network methods into community sensitisation to increase residents’ (including children/youth) knowledge of air pollution and lung health in Mukuru and a neighbouring higher-income area, Buruburu, and empower them to engage equitably in child lung health research (the forthcoming Tupumue study). We aim to: raise air pollution and lung health awareness and promote local knowledge-sharing/advocacy; support community input to the Tupumue fieldwork design; and build children/youth’s confidence about becoming Tupumue participants/citizen scientists. To do this, we will hold community workshops to co-develop participatory, creative sensitisation strategies, and train community members to implement them in strategic locations to maximise diversity in engaging local children/youth/parents/teachers/youth workers. AIR Network findings that creative methods successfully build trust and break down barriers make us confident of achieving sustainable impact in air pollution and lung health awareness-raising and equal health research partnership-building.