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- successful completion of a PACE EH based community environmental health assessment,
- development of community-based action plans for priority environmental health issues,
- implementation of two litter assessments,
- development of a walkability assessment tool,
- development of health information bulletins for a variety of environmental health issues, and
- development of GIS-based assessment tools for many existing environmental health programs.
Program Description
The Island County Environmental Initiative is a model for other
communities seeking to implement environmental health action plans
developed as part of a community-based environmental health
assessment process using the Protocol for Assessing Community
Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) methodology. Solutions
to identified environmental health issues are developed in
partnership with the community to expand environmental health
services to address concerns identified by the community assessment
process and evaluate environmental health services.
Action plans to address priority environmental health issues, were developed and are actively being implemented. These plans were based on the Essential Public Health Services and Core Competencies of Environmental Health.
The project builds on collaborations that have been developed with state public health agencies, other local health agencies, and academic institutions. The aim of the project is to empower community members to be involved in identifying local environmental health concerns, to seek locally appropriate solutions, and to implement action plans developed in partnership among public health agencies, the community, and elected officials.
Accomplishments
Accomplishments to date include the following:
Barriers
Barriers to success of the project continue to include the pace at
which community groups proceed through an assessment and project
implementation process, the need to gain political support for a
nontraditional method of addressing environmental health issues, and
limited resources.
What Is Next
The PACE EH process has resulted in the development of two action
plans now being implemented. We anticipate that the final year of
the project will be spent completing the implementation phase,
identifying opportunities for sustaining the community environmental
health assessment process, and developing models to share with other
communities that can contribute to their success in conducting
community-based environmental health interventions.
National Transferability
The most significant anticipated outcome of this project will be the
development of a PACE EH toolkit that can be used by other
communities interested in conducting a community-based environmental
health assessment to address locally appropriate environmental
health issues.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A
CDC Contact Center: 800-CDC-INFO • 888-232-6348 (TTY)
