Oral

Major gaps exist in the capacity, consistency, and accountability of our nation’s environmental health system. The purpose of this session is to familiarize participants with the draft national Environmental Public Health Performance Standards (EnvPHPS), a companion module to the National Public Health Performance Standards that assists agencies in improving capacity, consistency, and accountability. Speakers will inform attendees about the known gaps and strengths in the nation’s environmental health services and how the EnvPHPS help agencies to identify needed changes to enhance capacity, and to measure improvement. This session will also include a presentation on activities associated with the accreditation of local environmental health programs and how the EnvPHPS fit into this process. Over the past two years, representatives from local, state, and tribal agencies across the U.S. applied the standards to programs and activities within their agencies. Presenters are environmental health professionals from the local, state, federal and tribal agencies that have been using the EnvPHPS over the last two years. Panelists will share specific examples of experience with completing the standards instrument, discuss how the standards will be used in the accreditation process, review national data highlighting the strengths and gaps in the environmental public health system, and review the challenges and successes associated with efforts to improve infrastructure and services. Speakers will provide participants with information on how their programs can benefit from applying the standards and about the amount of time needed to complete the process.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify how to obtain and use the national CDC Environmental Public Health Performance Standards (EnvPHPS) to improve agency capacity to perform the essential services of environmental health. 2. Describe how environmental health programs have used the EnvPHPS to improve their capacity to perform the essential environmental health services. 3. Describe how the EnvPHPS fit into the process of accrediting local environmental health programs as part of the Public Health Accreditation activity.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)