The Mississippi Delta Project: Health and Environment is a multiphase initiative designed to identify and address environmental and other factors that impact human health. The current initiative is a logical follow-up to the 1990 Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission final report, "Realizing the Dream ... Fulfilling the Potential," which set goals for action by the year 2001. Phase I of the project consisted of a needs assessment that identified relevant environmental health hazards, health care providers, educational resources and health outcomes. The findings from the needs assessment are compiled into these four profiles. A brief overview of Phase I will be presented to highlight the important and serious findings of the earlier study. This main focus, however, will be to describe four community-based and community-directed demonstration projects that have been identified in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. They represent Phase II demonstration projects that include either; hazardous and toxic materials, water, soil and air contamination, occupational safety and health, environmental restoration, environmental justice, database expansion, pesticide exposures, preventive health, special populations, behavioral studies, epidemiologic studies, environmental education, or adult education. The overall goals of these analyses will be to: 1) identify environmental hazards (and barriers to this identification), 2) promote environmental quality, 3) reduce, and where possible, prevent these hazards from negatively impacting upon public health and the environment, with emphasis on persons of color and underserved communities. Phase III will generalize the lessons learned from Phase II. The successful demonstration/intervention programs will be identified and promoted for adoption region-wide.
Learning Objectives: To demonstrate community involvement in environmental health problems
Keywords: Community Collaboration, Environmental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Minority Health Professions Foundation
Community Based Organizations
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.