Strengthening the capacity of health professionals serving minority and low-income communities to better identify, manage, and prevent environmental health risks

This session describes a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Health and Environment, the Center for Family, Work, and Community, and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production to build capacity in health professionals who serve low-income, immigrant/refugee and minority children in small cities and rural areas in the six New England states. This population is generally underserved by children's environmental professional development efforts, although it suffers disproportionately from the impacts of environmental contaminants. The collaborative worked closely with primary health care providers for such communities, including community health centers, community health educators, school nurses, and emergency department staff. The project also targeted public health nurses as they have an increasingly important role in identification and prevention of environmental risks at the community level. The projects efforts focused on New England, as environmental health infrastructure is developed locally and regionally rather the nationally. The training approach described in this session is directed towards empowerment of health professionals to create safe environments for children through: 1.) active engagement in policy and practice changes, 2.) their work with parents, communities, and professional colleagues to proactively identify potential environmental hazards and sentinel illnesses, effectively utilize prevention and control strategies, provide information to patients and communities, make appropriate referrals, and demonstrate advocacy and risk communication in patient care and community level intervention with respect to potential adverse effects of the environment on health. Selected examples of policy and individual practice changes resulting from this intervention will be presented.