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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

John M. Dunn, Environmental Health Division, Oneida County Health Department, 800 Park Ave, Utica, NY 13501, 315-798-5064, jdunn@ocgov.net

The Oneida County Health Department was awarded a cooperative agreement through the U.S. EPA CARE (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) program in the fall of 2005. The CARE program was established to empower communities to identify environmental health issues. Once awarded, the Health Department worked collaboratively with the EPA to develop a community-based coalition which would undertake the task of identifying and prioritizing environmental health concerns affecting their community. The coalition is now known as the Oneida County CARE Committee, and is made up of membership representing business, private interest, general public, service provider agencies, agricultural interest groups, as well as various governmental entities. The Health Department, with the help of EPA, has worked diligently to ensure sufficient representation from all segments of the community. The Oneida County CARE Committee has adopted the PACE EH (Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health) process, developed by NACCHO (National Association of City and County Health Officials), as the assessment tool for this project. Although the CARE Project is still in its infancy in Oneida County, the benefits of this collaboration are already becoming apparent. There is tremendous enthusiasm and commitment being shown by the parties involved as they work towards identifying issues of concern. It has already fostered a better working relationship between governmental entities and the general public, as well as strengthening relationships between governmental agencies such as the Oneida County Health Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Learning Objectives:

• Create a community-based committee to implement the PACE EH process for the CARE PRoject.
• Identify and prioritize environmental health risks present within the community.
• Develop and strengthen working relations between business, private interest, general public and governmental entities.

Related Web page: www.ocgov.net

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No