Making Sure Our Voices Are Heard in Environmental Health Conversations

Background:  Environmental health is the branch of public health that focuses on the relationships between people and their environment, promotes human health and well-being, and fosters healthy and sage communities (APHA, 2017).  Maintaining a healthy environment is central to increasing quality of life and years of healthy life (Healthy People 2020).  In the U.S. about 13% of the total burden of disease is attributable to the environment.  That translates to 400,000 deaths and almost six million disability-adjusted life years lost each and every year (Dyjack, 2016).

Program background:  As a fundamental component of a comprehensive public health system, environmental health works to advance policies and programs to reduce chemical and other environmental exposures in air, water, soil and food to protect residents and provide communities with healthier environments.   Despite this, the influence of the environment on personal and public health is often debated.   

Evaluation Methods and Results:  This presentation will showcase ways to identify areas of opportunity, mastering skills to disseminate information, and how to monitor, track, measure and analyze environmental health conversations in person and in the virtual and social media worlds.

Conclusions:  Leveraging the voice and energy of professionals in environmental health, as well as in broader public health disciplines, can have a positive effect on addressing existing and emergent environmental health issues. 

Implications for research and/or practice:  Enhancing the dialogue of environmental public health fits with the changing burden of disease and the contribution of environments to health outcomes.