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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Sarah V. Doll¹, Laura Weiss, MPH¹, and Elise G. Miller, MEd². (1) Oregon Environmental Council, 222 NW Davis, Suite 309, Portland, OR 97209, 503-222-1963 x110, sarahd@oeconline.org, (2) Institute for Children's Environmental Health, 1646 Dow Road, Freeland, WA 98249

Children are more vulnerable to environmental health threats than adults. Parents and caregivers have a vital role to play in protecting children from environmental health threats. While most want to do the right thing, many parents and caregivers are often unclear about how to keep kids safe from environmental toxins. The Oregon Environmental Council launched two innovative programs during Fall 2005 that make it fun and easy for parents and childcare providers to protect young children from environmental health threats. The "Tiny Footprints" program offers both a Baby Shower Kit and a website with eco-healthy resources and online conversations for new parents. To protect toddlers, OEC offers childcare providers the opportunity to qualify as “Eco-Healthy” through a one-of-a-kind voluntary recognition program based on a 25-item checklist. Qualifying facilities receive a sticker and poster that demonstrate their commitment to being “Eco-Healthy.” This session will describe these programs in more detail, including measurement of use and perceived utility of each program and data collected on the environmental health practices of participating childcare facilities. Strategies for more widely disseminating and implementing these programs will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe two innovative programs to educate parents and childcare providers about practices that protect children from environmental health threats.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the two programs in Oregon.
• Discuss strategies for future adaptations and dissemination of these programs.

Keywords: Environmental Health, Child Care

Related Web page: www.tinyfootprints.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation