177809 Weather and Public Health

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 4:30 PM

Leyla Erk McCurdy, MPhil , Senior Director, Health & Environment, National Environmental Education Foundation, Washington, DC
Paul R. Epstein, MD, MPH , Associate Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Sara Espinoza, MEM , National Environmental Education Foundation, Washington, DC
Brian McNally, MD, MPH , Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
     
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), in partnership with the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET) has developed Weather and the Public's Health, a free, online education course for broadcast meteorologists. The course is part of NEEF's on-going partnership with the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to provide broadcast meteorologists with background education and resources to help them include environmental and health information in the TV weathercast, with the ultimate goal of helping the public make informed decisions about the environment that foster individual well-being and actions that promote healthful and sustainable living. While the course was initially designed for broadcast meteorologists, it is a good primer for anyone interested in learning about the relationship between weather, climate and health. This presentation will showcase the online course as an outreach resource for both meteorologists and the public health community. It will also provide recommendations for strengthening the relationship between local broadcast meteorologists and public health organizations to increase effective communication of prevention/preparedness tips and public health risks related to weather.

Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Identify ways that Weather and the Public’s Health can be used with existing public health education programs; 2) Describe how local broadcast meteorologists can help to advance public health messages; 3) Identify opportunities for partnership between public health organizations and local media.

Keywords: Public Health, Environmental Health Hazards

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am Senior Director at the National Environmental Education Foundation,where this project is being conducted.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

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