The utility of rapid participatory appraisal for community assessment, diagnosis, and policy development

The selection of a model to guide the understanding and resolution of community problems is an important issue relating to the foundation of public health practice: assessment, policy development, and assurance. Many assessment models produce a diagnosis of community weaknesses, but fail to promote planning and interventions. Rapid Participatory Appraisal (RPA) is a participatory action research model which regards assessment as the first step in the problem solving process, and claims to achieve assessment and policy development within limited resources of time and money. Literature documenting the fulfillment of these claims, and thereby supporting the utility of the model, is relatively sparse and difficult to obtain. Very few articles discuss the changes resulting from RPA assessments in urban areas, and those that do describe studies conducted outside the U.S.A. ^ This study examines the utility of the RPA model and its underlying theories: systems theory, grounded theory, and principles of participatory change, as illustrated by the case study of a community assessment conducted for the Texas Diabetes Institute (TDI), San Antonio, Texas, and subsequent outcomes. Diabetes has a high prevalence and is a major issue in San Antonio. Faculty and students conducted the assessment by informal collaboration between two nursing and public health assessment courses, providing practical student experiences. The study area was large, and the flexibility of the model tested by its use in contiguous sub-regions, reanalyzing aggregated results for the study area. Official TDI reports, and a mail survey of agency employees, described policy development resulting from community diagnoses revealed by the assessment. ^ The RPA model met the criteria for utility from the perspectives of merit, worth, efficiency, and effectiveness. The RPA model best met the agencies' criteria (merit), met the data needs of TDI in this particular situation (worth), provided valid results within budget, time, and personnel constraints (efficiency), and stimulated policy development by TDI (effectiveness). ^ The RPA model appears to have utility for community assessment, diagnosis, and policy development in circumstances similar to the TDI diabetes study. ^

Community Trails in Community Context: GIS Analysis of Associations between Trail and Neighborhood Characteristics

This research examines the site and situation characteristics of community trails as landscapes promoting physical activity. Trail segment and neighborhood characteristics for six trails in urban, suburban, and exurban towns in northeastern Massachusetts were assessed from primary Global Positioning System (GPS) data and from secondary Census and land use data integrated in a geographic information system (GIS). Correlations between neighborhood street and housing density, land use mix, and sociodemographic characteristics and trail segment characteristics and amenities measure the degree to which trail segment attributes are associated with the surrounding neighborhood characteristics.

This Was Not on the Syllabus!: An Examination of First-Year Urban Teachers' Self-Efficacy

Many first-year teachers find it difficult to reach the needs of all their students in part, because they feel their college coursework left them ill-prepared for the complexity they face in the classroom. This is particularly true among urban teachers who often face crowded classrooms of diverse students with a wide range of instructional needs. This study is a comparative case study of two University of Connecticut graduates during their first year teaching in urban schools. Using mixed-methods, the study draws on interviews, questionnaires, and videotape data shared as a part of a monthly teacher study group of similar graduates. I also draw on group conversations in which teachers discussed their ability to reach the needs of all of their students as this was related to their preservice coursework. My findings suggest that many first-year teachers feel university coursework failed to help them. One teacher felt it did not help her at all, while the other felt it helped her but she still could not meet all of her students' needs. Many first-year, urban teachers do not feel confident in the classroom as a result of their preparation from coursework. With this lack in confidence, the teachers may be more likely to leave their urban position, and this may contribute to the high turnover of teachers in urban placements.

Human Capital Externalities and Private Returns to Education in Kenya

We use micro data to analyse the effect of human capital externality on earnings and private returns to education. The earnings equations are estimated using the OLS method for a sample of full-time workers. The results show that human capital has a positive effect on earnings, indicating that an increase in education benefits all workers. However, men benefit more from women's education than the women do from men's. The effects of human capital externality on private returns to schooling are shown to vary substantially between rural and urban areas and across levels of the education system.

Policy analysis of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and federal funding concerning barrier-free playgrounds

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was created to prohibit discrimination against disabled persons in our society. The goal of the ADA as a comprehensive civil rights law is to "ensure equal opportunity and complete participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency" for disabled persons (U.S. Department of Justice, 2008). As part of Title II and III of the ADA, states and local governments are required to provide people with disabilities the same chance to engage in and benefit from all programs and services including recreational facilities and activities as every other citizen. Recreational facilities and related structures must comply with accessibility standards when creating new structures or renovating existing ones. Through a systematic literature review of articles accessed through online databases, articles relating to children with disabilities, their quality of life and their experience gained through play were reviewed, analyzed and synthesized. Additionally, the ADA's Final Rule regarding accessible playgrounds was evaluated through a descriptive analysis which yielded the following five components relating the importance of barrier-free playgrounds to children with disabilities: appropriate dimensions for children, integration of the play area, variety of activity and stimulation, availability of accessible play structures to communities, and financial feasibility. These components were used as evaluation criteria to investigate the degree to which the ADA's Final Rule document met these criteria. An evaluation of two federal funding sources, the Urban Parks and Recreation Renewal Program (UPARR) and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), was also conducted which revealed three components relating the two programs' ability to support the realization of the ADA's Final Rule which included: current budget for the program, ability of local communities to attain funds, and level of ADA compliance required to receive funding. Majority of the evaluation of the Final Rule concluded it be adequate in development of barrier-free playgrounds although there are some portions of the guidelines that would benefit from further elucidation. Both funding programs were concluded to not adequately support the development of barrier-free playgrounds and therefore it was recommended that their funding be re-instated or increased as necessary. ^

Understanding mental illness in Nigeria: Bringing culture and traditional medicine into mental health policy

One of the major challenges in treating mental illness in Nigeria is that the health care facilities and mental health care professionals are not enough in number or well equipped to handle the burden of mental illness. There are several barriers to treatment for individual Nigerians which include the following: such as the lack of understanding of the root causes of mental illness, lack of financial support to get mental treatment, lack of social support (family, friends, neighbors), the fear of stigmatization concerning being labeled as mentally ill or being in association with the mentally ill, and the consultation of traditional native healers who may be unknowingly prolonging illness, rather than addressing and treating them due to lack of formal education and standardization of their treatments. Another barrier is the non-health nature of the mental health services in Nigeria. Traditional healers are essentially the mental health system. The elderly, women, and children are the most vulnerable groups in times of strife and hardships. Their mental well-being must be taken into account as well as their special needs in times of personal or societal crisis. ^ Nigerian mental health policy is geared toward forming a mental health system, but in actuality only a mental illness care system is the observed result of the policy. The government of Nigeria has drafted a mental health policy, yet its actual implementation into the Nigerian health infrastructure and society waits to be materialized. The limited health legislation or policy implementations tend to favor those who have access to these urban areas and the facilities' health services. Nigerians living in rural areas are at a disadvantage; many of them may not even be aware of services available to help them understand and treat mental illness. Perhaps, government driven health interventions geared toward mental illness in rural areas would reach an underserved Nigerians and Africans in general. Issues with political instability and limited infrastructure often hinder crucial financial resources and legislation from reaching the people that are truly in need of governmental leadership in regards to mental health policy.^ Traditional healers are a severely untapped resource in the treatment of mental illness within the Nigerian population. They are abundant within Nigerian communities and are meeting a real need for the mentally ill. However, much can be done to remove the barriers that prevent the integration of traditional healers within the mental health system and improve the quality of care they administer within the population. Mental illness is almost exclusively coped with through traditional medicine practices. Mobilization and education from each strata of Nigerian society and government as well as input from the medical community can improve how traditional medicine is utilized as a treatment for clinical illness and help alleviate the heavy burden of mental illness in Nigeria. Currently, there is no existing policy making structure for a working mental health system in Nigeria, and traditional healers are not taken into account in any formulation of mental health policy. Advocacy for mental illness is severely inadequate due to fear of stigmatization, with no formally recognized national of regional mental health association.^

Objective assessment of the built environment and its relationship to physical activity and obesity

The role of physical activity in the promotion of individual and population health has been well documented in research and policy publications. Significant research activities have produced compelling evidence for the support of the positive association between physical activity and improved health. Despite the knowledge about these public health benefits of physical activity, over half of US adults do not engage in physical activity at levels consistent with public health recommendations. Just as physical inactivity is of significant public health concern in the US, the prevalence of obesity (and its attendant co-morbidities) is also increasing among US adults.^ Research suggests racial and ethnic disparities relevant to physical inactivity and obesity in the US. Various studies have shown more favorable outcomes among non-Hispanic whites when compared to other minority groups as far as physical activity and obesity are concerned. The health disparity issue is especially important because Mexican-Americans who are the fastest growing segment of the US population are disproportionately affected by physical inactivity and obesity by a significant margin (when compared to non-Hispanic whites), so addressing the physical inactivity and obesity issues in this group is of significant public health concern. ^ Although the evidence for health benefits of physical activity is substantial, various research questions remain on the potential motivators for engaging in physical activity. One area of emerging interest is the potential role that the built environment may play in facilitating or inhibiting physical activity.^ In this study, based on an ongoing research project of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, we examined the built environment, measured objectively through the use of geographical information systems (GIS), and its association with physical activity and obesity among a cohort of Mexican- Americans living in Harris County, Texas. The overall study hypothesis was that residing in dense and highly connected neighborhoods with mixed land-use is associated with residents’ increased participation in physical activity and lowered prevalence of obesity. We completed the following specific aims: (1) to generate a land-use profile of the study area and create a “walkability index” measure for each block group within the study area; (2) to compare the level of engagement in physical activity between study participants that reside in high walkability index block groups and those from low walkability block groups; (3) to compare the prevalence of obesity between study participants that reside in high walkability index block groups and those from low walkability block groups. ^ We successfully created the walkability index as a form of objective measure of the built environment for portions of Harris County, Texas. We used a variety of spatial and non-spatial dataset to generate the so called walkability index. We are not aware of previous scholastic work of this kind (construction of walkability index) in the Houston area. Our findings from the assessment of relationships among walkability index, physical activity and obesity suggest the following, that: (1) that attempts to convert people to being walkers through health promotion activities may be much easier in high-walkability neighborhoods, and very hard in low-walkability neighborhoods. Therefore, health promotion activities to get people to be active may require supportive environment, walkable in this case, and may not succeed otherwise; and (2) Overall, among individuals with less education, those in the high walkability index areas may be less obese (extreme) than those in the low walkability area. To the extent that this association can be substantiated, we – public health practitioners, urban designers, and policy experts – we may need to start thinking about ways to “retrofit” existing urban forms to conform to more walkable neighborhoods. Also, in this population especially, there may be the need to focus special attention on those with lower educational attainment.^

The Relationship of Provincial Economic Level and Child Injury Mortality in Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in a Middle Income Country

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship of provincial economic development indices with incidences of child injury mortality in Thailand from 1999 - 2001. All injury deaths among children age 1-14 years were included. The independent variables included gross provincial product per capita (GPP/c), poverty and inequality indices, material and social deprivation indices, population in rural/ urban areas, and migration. Due to multicollinearity of such variables, the 76 provinces were categorized by GPP/c quartile, and means of overall injury, drowning, and transport-related mortality rates were compared among quartile groups. Spearman’s rho correlation between GPP/c and injury mortality rates was also performed. Finally, factor analysis was employed to create a set of factors to be treated as uncorrelated variables and stepwise multiple regression was carried out for the effects of the factors on injury mortality rates. A significant direct relationship was observed between GPP/c and overall injury mortality among children age 1-4 years, and 10-14 year-olds of both genders. Drowning was the main cause of this relationship among children age 1-4 years, and transport-related injury was the principle cause among children age 10-14 years. Conversely, provinces with lower GPP/c experienced higher injury mortality rates among school-age children 5-9 years old for both genders, mostly due to drowning. Factor analysis, and multiple regression results confirmed the relationships between economic development and injury mortality rates. These findings revealed that economic development had an adverse impact on injury-related mortality among children 1 to 4 and 10 to14 in Thailand.

Reestructuración productiva y configuración territorial : Pequeña industria metalmecánica en la Ciudad de Córdoba 2002-2012

El desarrollo de esta investigación se conforma como la búsqueda de vinculaciones territoriales a escala urbana en la Ciudad de Córdoba frente a un proceso de carácter global, como es el de la reestructuración productiva. Este concreto real se aborda desde un caso, el de la pequeña industria metalmecánica, que por presencia histórica y peso en el producto bruto geográfico de la ciudad se constituye en uno de los sostenes de la economía urbana. El abordaje del proceso de reestructuración productiva se realiza desde el análisis de las prácticas de los agentes. Por un lado, las del gobierno como agente que regula las relaciones productivas a través de políticas públicas industriales en el marco de un régimen de acumulación capitalista, y por otro lado, las prácticas de las pequeñas industrias metalmecánicas como agentes que se desenvuelven en el procesos de producción en una dialéctica entre las tendencias de producción de reestructuración de escala global y un entorno inmediato de relaciones productivas con otros agentes, procesos de producción, marco regulatorio y políticas públicas. Esta dialéctica se materializa en el territorio y da lugar a una configuración territorial industrial a escala urbana, que no solo se explica por las prácticas de los agentes industriales sino además por el juego de otros agentes que producen territorio. En el período postconvertibilidad a partir del 2002, el crecimiento de las actividades productivas en su conjunto, imprimen una dinámica compleja de expansión urbana y de relaciones entre agentes de distintos sectores, con distintos intereses y poder de actuar en el campo. Aquí se avanza en comprender las dimensiones de la expansión urbana que inciden en la configuración territorial industrial. La configuración territorial como vínculo indisociable entre las prácticas de agentes (sistema de acciones) y la estructura productiva territorial (sistema de objetos) muta permanentemente en el contexto postconvertibilidad debido al intenso dinamismo que adquiere la actividad industrial, entre habitus construidos históricamente y nuevas prácticas, que se encuentran en tensión permanente. Este concreto real va conformando un campo socio económico que discurre entre viejas y nuevas prácticas y configura un territorio fragmentado y disociado. El trabajo parte de la consideración de las políticas públicas industriales y las prácticas específicas de los agentes de las pequeñas industrias para luego analizar a escala urbana la configuración territorial, en donde las dimensiones de la expansión urbana interactúan con la especificidad de las prácticas de los agentes analizados. El cambio paulatino en las políticas destinadas al sector industrial postconvertibilidad manifiesta una presencia cada vez más relevante de PyMEs. No obstante la inercia heredada del periodo anterior revela, en la gestión de las políticas industriales y las prácticas empresarias, un camino caracterizado por la desconfianza e incertidumbre de las pequeñas empresas

Reestructuración productiva y configuración territorial : Pequeña industria metalmecánica en la Ciudad de Córdoba 2002-2012

El desarrollo de esta investigación se conforma como la búsqueda de vinculaciones territoriales a escala urbana en la Ciudad de Córdoba frente a un proceso de carácter global, como es el de la reestructuración productiva. Este concreto real se aborda desde un caso, el de la pequeña industria metalmecánica, que por presencia histórica y peso en el producto bruto geográfico de la ciudad se constituye en uno de los sostenes de la economía urbana. El abordaje del proceso de reestructuración productiva se realiza desde el análisis de las prácticas de los agentes. Por un lado, las del gobierno como agente que regula las relaciones productivas a través de políticas públicas industriales en el marco de un régimen de acumulación capitalista, y por otro lado, las prácticas de las pequeñas industrias metalmecánicas como agentes que se desenvuelven en el procesos de producción en una dialéctica entre las tendencias de producción de reestructuración de escala global y un entorno inmediato de relaciones productivas con otros agentes, procesos de producción, marco regulatorio y políticas públicas. Esta dialéctica se materializa en el territorio y da lugar a una configuración territorial industrial a escala urbana, que no solo se explica por las prácticas de los agentes industriales sino además por el juego de otros agentes que producen territorio. En el período postconvertibilidad a partir del 2002, el crecimiento de las actividades productivas en su conjunto, imprimen una dinámica compleja de expansión urbana y de relaciones entre agentes de distintos sectores, con distintos intereses y poder de actuar en el campo. Aquí se avanza en comprender las dimensiones de la expansión urbana que inciden en la configuración territorial industrial. La configuración territorial como vínculo indisociable entre las prácticas de agentes (sistema de acciones) y la estructura productiva territorial (sistema de objetos) muta permanentemente en el contexto postconvertibilidad debido al intenso dinamismo que adquiere la actividad industrial, entre habitus construidos históricamente y nuevas prácticas, que se encuentran en tensión permanente. Este concreto real va conformando un campo socio económico que discurre entre viejas y nuevas prácticas y configura un territorio fragmentado y disociado. El trabajo parte de la consideración de las políticas públicas industriales y las prácticas específicas de los agentes de las pequeñas industrias para luego analizar a escala urbana la configuración territorial, en donde las dimensiones de la expansión urbana interactúan con la especificidad de las prácticas de los agentes analizados. El cambio paulatino en las políticas destinadas al sector industrial postconvertibilidad manifiesta una presencia cada vez más relevante de PyMEs. No obstante la inercia heredada del periodo anterior revela, en la gestión de las políticas industriales y las prácticas empresarias, un camino caracterizado por la desconfianza e incertidumbre de las pequeñas empresas

Reestructuración productiva y configuración territorial : Pequeña industria metalmecánica en la Ciudad de Córdoba 2002-2012

El desarrollo de esta investigación se conforma como la búsqueda de vinculaciones territoriales a escala urbana en la Ciudad de Córdoba frente a un proceso de carácter global, como es el de la reestructuración productiva. Este concreto real se aborda desde un caso, el de la pequeña industria metalmecánica, que por presencia histórica y peso en el producto bruto geográfico de la ciudad se constituye en uno de los sostenes de la economía urbana. El abordaje del proceso de reestructuración productiva se realiza desde el análisis de las prácticas de los agentes. Por un lado, las del gobierno como agente que regula las relaciones productivas a través de políticas públicas industriales en el marco de un régimen de acumulación capitalista, y por otro lado, las prácticas de las pequeñas industrias metalmecánicas como agentes que se desenvuelven en el procesos de producción en una dialéctica entre las tendencias de producción de reestructuración de escala global y un entorno inmediato de relaciones productivas con otros agentes, procesos de producción, marco regulatorio y políticas públicas. Esta dialéctica se materializa en el territorio y da lugar a una configuración territorial industrial a escala urbana, que no solo se explica por las prácticas de los agentes industriales sino además por el juego de otros agentes que producen territorio. En el período postconvertibilidad a partir del 2002, el crecimiento de las actividades productivas en su conjunto, imprimen una dinámica compleja de expansión urbana y de relaciones entre agentes de distintos sectores, con distintos intereses y poder de actuar en el campo. Aquí se avanza en comprender las dimensiones de la expansión urbana que inciden en la configuración territorial industrial. La configuración territorial como vínculo indisociable entre las prácticas de agentes (sistema de acciones) y la estructura productiva territorial (sistema de objetos) muta permanentemente en el contexto postconvertibilidad debido al intenso dinamismo que adquiere la actividad industrial, entre habitus construidos históricamente y nuevas prácticas, que se encuentran en tensión permanente. Este concreto real va conformando un campo socio económico que discurre entre viejas y nuevas prácticas y configura un territorio fragmentado y disociado. El trabajo parte de la consideración de las políticas públicas industriales y las prácticas específicas de los agentes de las pequeñas industrias para luego analizar a escala urbana la configuración territorial, en donde las dimensiones de la expansión urbana interactúan con la especificidad de las prácticas de los agentes analizados. El cambio paulatino en las políticas destinadas al sector industrial postconvertibilidad manifiesta una presencia cada vez más relevante de PyMEs. No obstante la inercia heredada del periodo anterior revela, en la gestión de las políticas industriales y las prácticas empresarias, un camino caracterizado por la desconfianza e incertidumbre de las pequeñas empresas

Reestructuración productiva y configuración territorial : Pequeña industria metalmecánica en la Ciudad de Córdoba 2002-2012

El desarrollo de esta investigación se conforma como la búsqueda de vinculaciones territoriales a escala urbana en la Ciudad de Córdoba frente a un proceso de carácter global, como es el de la reestructuración productiva. Este concreto real se aborda desde un caso, el de la pequeña industria metalmecánica, que por presencia histórica y peso en el producto bruto geográfico de la ciudad se constituye en uno de los sostenes de la economía urbana. El abordaje del proceso de reestructuración productiva se realiza desde el análisis de las prácticas de los agentes. Por un lado, las del gobierno como agente que regula las relaciones productivas a través de políticas públicas industriales en el marco de un régimen de acumulación capitalista, y por otro lado, las prácticas de las pequeñas industrias metalmecánicas como agentes que se desenvuelven en el procesos de producción en una dialéctica entre las tendencias de producción de reestructuración de escala global y un entorno inmediato de relaciones productivas con otros agentes, procesos de producción, marco regulatorio y políticas públicas. Esta dialéctica se materializa en el territorio y da lugar a una configuración territorial industrial a escala urbana, que no solo se explica por las prácticas de los agentes industriales sino además por el juego de otros agentes que producen territorio. En el período postconvertibilidad a partir del 2002, el crecimiento de las actividades productivas en su conjunto, imprimen una dinámica compleja de expansión urbana y de relaciones entre agentes de distintos sectores, con distintos intereses y poder de actuar en el campo. Aquí se avanza en comprender las dimensiones de la expansión urbana que inciden en la configuración territorial industrial. La configuración territorial como vínculo indisociable entre las prácticas de agentes (sistema de acciones) y la estructura productiva territorial (sistema de objetos) muta permanentemente en el contexto postconvertibilidad debido al intenso dinamismo que adquiere la actividad industrial, entre habitus construidos históricamente y nuevas prácticas, que se encuentran en tensión permanente. Este concreto real va conformando un campo socio económico que discurre entre viejas y nuevas prácticas y configura un territorio fragmentado y disociado. El trabajo parte de la consideración de las políticas públicas industriales y las prácticas específicas de los agentes de las pequeñas industrias para luego analizar a escala urbana la configuración territorial, en donde las dimensiones de la expansión urbana interactúan con la especificidad de las prácticas de los agentes analizados. El cambio paulatino en las políticas destinadas al sector industrial postconvertibilidad manifiesta una presencia cada vez más relevante de PyMEs. No obstante la inercia heredada del periodo anterior revela, en la gestión de las políticas industriales y las prácticas empresarias, un camino caracterizado por la desconfianza e incertidumbre de las pequeñas empresas

Time-series of seagrass and land cover maps from 1972 to 2010, in South East Queensland, Australia, with links to GeoTIFFs

Long term global archives of high-moderate spatial resolution, multi-spectral satellite imagery are now readily accessible, but are not being fully utilised by management agencies due to the lack of appropriate methods to consistently produce accurate and timely management ready information. This work developed an object-based remote sensing approach to map land cover and seagrass distribution in an Australian coastal environment for a 38 year Landsat image time-series archive (1972-2010). Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) imagery were used without in situ field data input (but still using field knowledge) to produce land and seagrass cover maps every year data were available, resulting in over 60 map products over the 38 year archive. Land cover was mapped annually using vegetation, bare ground, urban and agricultural classes. Seagrass distribution was also mapped annually, and in some years monthly, via horizontal projected foliage cover classes, sand and deep water. Land cover products were validated using aerial photography and seagrass maps were validated with field survey data, producing several measures of accuracy. An average overall accuracy of 65% and 80% was reported for seagrass and land cover products respectively, which is consistent with other studies in the area. This study is the first to show moderate spatial resolution, long term annual changes in land cover and seagrass in an Australian environment, created without the use of in situ data; and only one of a few similar studies globally. The land cover products identify several long term trends; such as significant increases in South East Queensland's urban density and extent, vegetation clearing in rural and rural-residential areas, and inter-annual variation in dry vegetation types in western South East Queensland. The seagrass cover products show that there has been a minimal overall change in seagrass extent, but that seagrass cover level distribution is extremely dynamic; evidenced by large scale migrations of higher seagrass cover levels and several sudden and significant changes in cover level. These mapping products will allow management agencies to build a baseline assessment of their resources, understand past changes and help inform implementation and planning of management policy to address potential future changes.

PM2.5, PM10, and PM10-associated elements in the air in Bamako, Mali (2012-2013)

Saharan dust incursions and particulates emitted from human activities degrade air quality throughout West Africa, especially in the rapidly expanding urban centers in the region. Particulate matter (PM) that can be inhaled is strongly associated with increased incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancer. Air samples collected in the capital of a Saharan-Sahelian country (Bamako, Mali) between September 2012 - July 2013 were found to contain inhalable PM concentrations that exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) PM2.5 and PM10 24-h limits 58 - 98% of days and European Union (EU) PM10 24-h limit 98% of days. Mean concentrations were 1.2-to-4.5 fold greater than existing limits. Inhalable PM was enriched in transition metals, known to produce reactive oxygen species and initiate the inflammatory reaction, and other potentially bioactive and biotoxic metals/metalloids. Eroded mineral dust composed the bulk of inhalable PM, whereas most enriched metals/metalloids were likely emitted from oil combustion, biomass burning, refuse incineration, vehicle traffic, and mining activities. Human exposure to inhalable PM and associated metals/metalloids over 24-h was estimated. The findings indicate that inhalable PM in the Sahara-Sahel region may present a threat to human health, especially in urban areas with greater inhalable PM and transition metal exposure.