Engaging community action, one state's perspective

For several years, the Florida Department of Health has supported county health departments to participate in community assessment using the National Association of City and County Health Officials' (NACCHO) Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH). All projects are designed to open the lines of communication between the department's county health departments and their affected communities. Community-based environmental public health assessment uncovers locally relevant issues and assists in the design of action plans to address those environmental health concerns. Adopting communities have realized a number of significant outcomes related to PACE EH including improved communication, collaboration and trust within the community toward improving local environmental health. This project has become a national model and provides evidence that communities identify built environment and urban planning issues as environmental health issues. In addition to describing the work in Florida, the presenter will discuss the potential for other states to expand on this work. States can use collaborative efforts to improve capacity for supporting community-based initiatives.