Oral

Home based environmental hazards are major contributors to disease, particularly those that disproportionately affect low income, urban, and minority children. Childhood lead poisoning and asthma are prime examples. The dramatic rise in asthma prevalence over the last few decades has caused a proliferation of community based programs employing a range of strategies to address this complex disease. However, traditional vehicles for prevention messages (health fairs, provider visits, etc.) may not be effective. Increasingly, public health professionals are embracing their roots and using ecological frameworks to address complex problems. Recent publications suggest expanding traditional environmental health practice, which may narrowly focus on protection, to incorporate a more comprehensive health promotion approach. This session will discuss several innovative environmental health approaches. One such approach was developed through a cooperative agreement with the Indoor Environments Division of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Asthma Health Outcomes Project (AHOP). The AHOP examined asthma programs worldwide that included an environmental component to identify types of activities offered, how programs were implemented and factors associated with success. Home visits have also been successful in reducing environmental hazards such as lead and asthma triggers. The development of a model called Healthy Home, an interactive ‘museum' in an inner city residence, delivers home visit-like educational experiences in a cost-effective, community-based facility.

Session Objectives: At the end of the session, the participant will be able to: (1) Describe how interactive, 'hands on' environmental health education can complement healthy homes policies; (2) Identify how shifting the frame from environmental protection to environmental health promotion expands the areas for discussion about environmental health problems; (3) Describe the beneficial effects of organizing environmental health promotion at a personal, interpersonal and ecological level.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing