Publications Related to Workforce Development

Biology and Control of Vectors and Public Health Pests: The Importance of Integrated Pest Management – updated free online CDC-sponsored course includes sessions on the identification and management of bed bugs, along with an extensive discussion on rodents and other pest management approaches

Essential Services of Environmental Health CD-ROM [PDF - 823 KB] – CD-ROM training program to help environmental health programs fully integrate the essential services concepts into their own operations through a flexible workshop format. Continuing education credits are available for program completion. This program was developed under an EHSB cooperative agreement.

Military to Civilian Environmental Health Practice [PDF - 3 MB] – provides information to environmental health professionals who are retiring or leaving active duty service so they consider careers with state and local environmental public health programs

National Strategy to Revitalize Environmental Public Health Services – a strategy to enhance environmental public health services

Strategic Options for CDC Support of the Local, State, and Tribal Environmental Public Health Workforce [PDF - 340 KB] – report with recommendations on how CDC could support development and training of the U.S. environmental public health workforce

When Every Drop Counts: Protecting Public Health During Drought Conditions—A Guide for Public Health Professionals – publication to assist public health officials, practitioners, and other stakeholders in their efforts to understand and prepare for drought in their communities

Reports by Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute Graduates

These reports were prepared by graduates of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute. These documents have not been revised or edited to conform to agency standards. The findings and conclusions in these reports are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A Case Study: The Downgrading of the Environmental Health Workforce in El Paso, Texas [DOC - 355 KB] – discussing how downgrading environmental health could adversely affect the public due to decreased quality of environmental health services

Assuring Food Safety and a Qualified Workforce in Suburban Cook County [DOC - 356 KB] – assuring a competent workforce through a voluntary food training program

A Crisis for Leaders: Improving Retention and Recruitment at the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation [DOC - 355 KB] – project to provide leadership development opportunities for all staff at the Department of Environmental Conservation

Cultural Competency – A Recipe for Improving Environmental Public Health Practices and Related Research in Racial and Ethnic Populations [DOC - 5 MB] – cultural competency is an important part of identifying, assessing, monitoring, validating, and conducting surveillance of conditions in many of our racial and ethnic communities

Ensuring a Competent Workforce and Sustaining Program Improvements in Environmental Health [DOC - 492 KB] – initiative to create workforce development plans and individual professional development plans and annually assess employee competency

Implementation of a Pilot Program to Address Reliability of Environmental Sanitation Inspections at Memphis and Shelby County Health Department [DOC - 500 KB] – describes the creation of a novel quality assurance pilot program to assist in increasing accurate and representative sanitation inspection surveys

Improving Performance Evaluation Process by Establishing Environmental Health Workforce Standards [DOC - 588 KB] – developing workforce standards by incorporating required competencies and performance expectations for environmental health professionals

Improving Public Health Services and Saving Resources: Hiring Graduates from Accredited Environmental Health Programs [DOC - 476 KB] – defines the academic competencies acquired by graduates of science-based academic programs and identifies the training requirements needed to bring each of these individuals up to a qualified level

Increasing Environmental Public Health Knowledge at Local Public Health Agencies [DOC - 801 KB] – developing a comprehensive environmental training program for local public health agency environmental staff and evaluating a registration and/or credentialing program throughout the state

Increasing Retention of Environmental Health Specialists in Los Angeles County [DOC - 606 KB] – assesses reasons for staff departures and explores opportunities available in Los Angeles County to attract experienced environmental health specialists and retain existing staff

Making the Connections Outside the Clinic: Adding Public Health and Environmental Public Health Education to Medical School Curriculum [DOC - 368 KB] – project to identify efforts being made to incorporate environmental and public health education into the medical school curriculum

Meeting the Environmental Challenges of the Future by Redesigning the Workforce of Today [DOC - 378 KB] – tools to bridge the gap between technical diversity and a holistic, programmatic approach to environmental health

Professional vs. Technician: Credentialing Requirements for Environmental Public Health Staff in Alabama [DOC - 663 KB] – using the requirements and laws for registration of environmental public health in several states to support reinstatement of requirements for the REHS/RS credential in Alabama

Responding to Shifting Patterns of Foodborne Illness: A Strategy to Ensure a Competent Workforce [DOC - 562 KB] – project to realign program goals to a result-oriented system to assure workforce competence and fulfill the public’s trust in the state’s food protection program

Retention of Navy Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) in the U.S. Navy [DOC - 238 KB] – project to promote retention of environmental health officers (EHOs) in the U.S. Navy

Saving University Environmental Health Programs [DOC - 308 KB] – plan for a sustainable enrollment of at least 40 students in the Environmental Health Program at East Carolina University

Workforce Development Model: A Comprehensive Strategy for Workforce Development for Environmental Public Health Professionals in South Carolina [DOC - 156 KB] – strategy to build a workforce development model for environmental public health professionals in South Carolina

EHS Columns in the Journal of Environmental Health

A Diverse Environmental Public Health Workforce to Meet the Diverse Environmental Health Challenges of the 21st Century [PDF - 371 KB] – discusses the need to increase the diversity of the environmental public health workforce and its leadership

A New Reality for Environmental Health [PDF - 405 KB] – Rob Blake writes about EH workforce issues, EHS’ recent efforts to favorably affect these workforce issues, and possible initiatives for EH practitioners to broaden their scope of practice.

Are We Really Saving Resources with Current Hiring Practices at Local Health Departments? [PDF - 418 KB] – Workforce shortages and the small number of graduates from accredited EH academic programs have led many local health departments to hire entry-level personnel who may not have a degree or educational training in EH or public health.

Developing Environmental Public Health Leadership [PDF - 111 KB] – description of the Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI).

Developing the Environmental Health Workforce [PDF - 308 KB] – highlights the many programs that EHSB has participated in to promote the environmental health workforce

Revisiting Revitalization [PDF - 262 KB] – outlines the progress to date on the goals and strategies implemented in A National Strategy to Revitalize Environmental Public Health Services.

Links to information from outside CDC

Board of Health Recommendations for Hiring Qualified Environmental Health Practitioners [PDF - 1.5 MB] (National Association of Local Boards of Health [NALBOH]) – document to help local health agencies address environmental health workforce issues

Careers in Environmental Health (Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs [AEHAP]) – links to programs that highlight the benefits and importance of teaching environmental health in all geographic and ethnic communities:

• AEHAP Programs Brochure [PDF - 137 KB]

Environmental Health Core Competencies [PDF - 555 KB] (American Public Health Association; CDC) – fourteen core competencies for local environmental health practitioners are identified to improve the effectiveness of their work

Workforce Development Post-Secondary Internship Program [DOC - 576 KB] (Multnomah County Environmental Health Services) – environmental health internship training manual for postsecondary students [developed with funding from the EHS capacity-building program]

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