Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108411

Paola A. Case, MPH(c)¹, David T. Dyjack, DrPH, CIH¹, Susanne Montgomery, PhD, MPH², and Harold Marlow, MPH, DrPH(c)¹. (1) Department of Environmental Health, Loma Linda University School of Public Health, Nichol Hall 1202, Loma Linda, CA 92350, (909) 558-8545, pcase05p@sph.llu.edu, (2) Health Promotion & Education, Loma Linda University School of Public Health, Nichol Hall, Loma Linda, CA 92350

The 2003 CDC publication A National Strategy to Revitalize Environmental Public Health Services noted that an assessment of the structure, size, and capacities of state and local environmental health agencies is needed. The purpose of our research was to address this need by describing how and by whom environmental health services are delivered in California. The majority of environmental health services are delivered through 19 pertinent media: outdoor air, indoor air, drinking water, waste water, solid waste, hazardous waste, biosolids, superfund sites, radiation, noise, housing, land use, animal control, recreational waters, occupational exposures, vector-borne diseases, food, pesticides and emergency response. After charting which federal, state, regional, and local agencies are involved oversight and service delivery, we defined the legal foundation and authority that mandates the delivery of each service. Eighty standardized interviews with key decision makers from each county environmental health department and leading environmental health agencies were conducted. The survey assessed the worker profile including number and type of environmental health workers, their race/ethnicity, age, level of training required versus preferred, and the number of vacant and frozen openings. Agency budget, funding source and funding challenges were discussed. Delivery profiles and funding needs by media were also identified. In addition to the survey we characterized the emerging environmental health workforce, as predicted by current applicants for Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) status, and enrollment figures from California's five approved environmental health academic programs. Discussion will focus on administrative, workforce, training, and service delivery (technical and geographic) gaps.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of presentation, a participant will be able to

• Describe the organization and the provision of environmental health services in California.
• Identify geographic, administrative, workforce and/or service delivery gaps.
• Articulate how the current workforce is prepared to appropriately administer the necessary services.

Keywords: Workforce, Environmental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation