155509 "Nursing" Homes to Health

Tuesday, November 6, 2007: 1:15 PM

Thomas G. Neltner, JD, BSChemE, CHM , National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, MD
        
Substandard housing can result in dangerous exposures to lead hazards, asthma triggers, carbon monoxide, rodents, roaches, mold, and pesticides. Healthcare professionals, especially nurses, need to understand this connection between health and housing to more effectively serve their clients. In some cases, the problem is obvious, but the nurse is not clear of the connection to client health. In other cases, the problem is hidden. Usually the problems have intertwined root causes such as water damage that must be addressed. Nurses need a firm understanding of healthy homes and the connection between health and housing.

The National Healthy Homes Training Center offers two courses to help nurses get that understanding. The Training Center, funded by grants from CDC, EPA, HUD, offers a two-day Essentials for Healthy Homes Practitioner course through its network of 12 partners. It complements this course with an on-line Pediatric Environmental Home Assessment and Action Plan training designed to have a nurse conduct an home assessment using on-line scenarios and other tools. The course materials are available on-line at www.healthyhomestraining.org.

Learning Objectives:
Participants in the session will be able to: a. Explain the connections between health and housing for their clients; and b. Identify the types of resources and training available to help prepare them to effectively help clients resolve housing problems.

Keywords: Healthy Buildings, Environmental Health Hazards

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Children's Environmental Health: Toward Sustainable Understanding, Interventions, and Policies Worldwide
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