Abstract
A citizens science project: Improving water quality in the clark avenue beach neighborhood, town of branford
Michael Pascucilla, M.P.H., REHS, DAAS
East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
The East Shore District Health Department (ESDHD) of Branford, Connecticut worked in collaboration with the Clark Avenue neighborhood which exemplifies a quintessential, coastal New England town. Branford, home to 28,000 people~, sits 15 minutes east of New Haven and along the Long Island Sound for more than 20 miles--the Connecticut town with the longest shoreline. ESDHD, worked together with the Short Beach Association in complete transparency in all aspects of the project. In the spirit of democracy, ESDHD engaged local volunteer community residents in the decision-making process for policy change recommendations based on solid science and data collected to improve the water quality of their community. Through citizen science engagement, our goal was to leverage our partnership with the community to support residents in independently reaching solutions to water quality concerns that are impacting their local ecosystem.
Clark Avenue Beach, is located in the heart of one of Branford’s many village neighborhoods, Short Beach. Most of Short Beach’s residents have lived there for decades and have an affinity for the coast. However, high levels of bacterial contamination have been detected in the recreational waters of public beaches in Branford, with levels at Johnson’s Beach were among the highest. Beyond bathing use by community members, Short Beach provides access to shellfish beds.
In collaboration with the ESDHD and the Civic Association of Short Beach, this project set out to fulfill five project aims. These broadly include updating previous reports on bacterial contamination, volunteers carrying out water sampling tests, mapping local sewage systems, administering a sanitary survey, and collaborating with local/state partners. Our health department worked to improve water quality and sustain community relationships in the Short Beach neighborhood, and through this citizen science project we learned valuable lessons in community engagement and recognized our local community members for their volunteer service.
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs Administration, management, leadership Environmental health sciences Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs Public health or related education Public health or related research
Abstract
Evaluating sustainable education programs for households and non-profit workplaces
Caitlin Washburn, MPH candidate, Ryan Hale, BA, MA candidate and Lorely Chavez, MA, MPH candidate
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
Sustainability has become a topic of great public interest due to the progression of climate change and increased media attention given to environmental initiatives. Many individuals, households, and businesses aim to be more environmentally conscious, but struggle to implement alternative green practices due to the lack of resources. In Nashville, Tennessee, where city-wide recycling and composting programs are underdeveloped and lacking in certain areas, a nonprofit has filled the gap by providing sustainability education to schools, community households, and workplaces. Individuals receive training at the community level to create sustainable living education systems, which in turn empower other businesses and individuals to take part in the initiative. Additional emphasis is placed on training nonprofits to adopt sustainable workplace cultures. Workshops are held bimonthly, and these provide organizations with the resources and education to adopt environmentally-friendly practices. Through a university and nonprofit partnership, program evaluation took place to highlight best practices, identify gaps, and design better strategies by tailoring information to neighborhoods and the working field. Findings from the evaluation process will identify which components of the workshops are effective and which need to be improved. An additional follow-up survey will be taken place, where attendees from the communities and organizations will be asked which effectiveness and gaps to address for future educational opportunities. Findings will be shared and used for communities and organizations who are at the beginning of transitioning to environmentally conscious practices.
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice Environmental health sciences Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Abstract
Adapting hands-on community environmental health (CEH) kits for use by nurses
Danielle Alcéna-Stiner, PhD, RN and Dina Markowitz, PhD
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
University of Rochester’s Environmental Health Sciences Center collaborated with a company that develops science activity kits to create eight different hands-on community environmental health (CEH) kits which have been used in informal education settings across the United States. These CEH kits have potential for integration into the health literacy toolkits of healthcare workers, such as nurses. However, the CEH kits need to be adapted for nurse use among a broad range of community settings. Email distribution lists were used to recruit nurse participants. The eight CEH kits are being adapted with nurses’ input using a four-phase approach, Phase 1) nurses review current CEH kits and complete evaluation surveys; Phase 2) focused kit adaptations to support usage by nurses, including the translation of kits into Spanish; Phase 3) the adapted and translated kits are used in English and Spanish-speaking community-based settings; and Phase 4) surveys are completed by the nurses to evaluate their use of the adapted CEH kits. Thirty-two nurses responded to email announcements and identified two kits to review. Seventeen nurses were selected to participate in Phase 1, in which they each reviewed two CEH kits and provided suggestions for how to adapt the kits for use by nurses in a broad range of community settings. Adaptations and translations are underway for the kits. Eight CEH kits will be adapted for nurse use in diverse community setting. Findings from kit use will provide insight into the utility of hands-on educational resources by health care workers, such as nurses.
Advocacy for health and health education Environmental health sciences Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs Public health or related education Public health or related nursing
Abstract
Supporting communities to identify, organize, and take action on local environmental health concerns: The exposome roadshow and community grant program
Erin Lebow-Skelley, MPH1, Lynne Young, MS2 and Melanie Pearson, PhD1
(1)Emory University, Atlanta, GA, (2)Pathways to Sustainability, Duluth, GA
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
The HERCULES Exposome Research Center’s Community Engagement Core aims to establish multi-directional communication about local environmental health issues within Atlanta communities while also enhancing their capacity to address those issues. As such, together with our Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB), we developed and implemented a program that would incorporate community knowledge into the scientific knowledge about the exposome, while supporting those communities to organize and take action on their environmental concerns. The program, named the Clarence Shaheed DuBois Exposome Roadshow and Community Grant Program in memory of a founding SAB member, consists of four phases: Roadshow Workshops, Planning Grant, Action Grant, and Sustainability Grant. The program may last three years and provide up to $6000 to the community. During this process, community members identify their environmental health concerns using Group Concept Mapping (i.e., define what they consider to be in their exposome), learn about the exposome approach to health, organize and plan for action, take action, and plan to sustain their efforts. To date, we have enrolled five distinct communities across the metro-Atlanta area. Each community has defined their exposome, identified a priority issue on which to take action, and received funding as a community group to organize and take action. This presentation will give an overview of this innovative model to 1) understand the environmental health concerns of local communities and 2) enhance and support community capacity to organize and address those concerns. We will also share the results and progress of the program to date, including the community identified model of the exposome.
Environmental health sciences Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs