Environmental Health Community Assessment Tool Robyn Gilden, RN, MS UMSON Environmental Health Education Center Greening the Nurse Curriculum January 14, 2009

Learning Objectives Describe the process of developing an assessment tool Identify topic areas for a community environmental health assessment tool Discuss lessons learned in the developing and piloting processes Identify additional sources of information and technical assistance available to nurses based on findings from a community environmental health assessment

Development Process Identified need Developed broad categories Generated questions under each category Edited internally Pilot tested Evaluated (Revision)

Environmental Health Community Assessment

Topic Areas Air  Air pollution  Transportation issues Water  Bodies of water  Drinking water  Fish alerts

Topic Areas: Land  Land use/Industry  Roads  Public transportation/walkability  Recreation area/green space  Pesticides  Fertilizers  Schools  Commuter lots/shopping areas  Housing stock  Vacant lots  Small businesses (gas stations, dry cleaners, auto repair)  Agriculture related issues

Topic Areas Waste  Landfills/incinerators  Trash collection, maintenance process  Illegal dumping  Odors  Rodents Safety  Violence  Drugs  Police and emergency service presence

Pilot Test Fall 2008 UG CH clinical group Upton community, Baltimore, MD Feedback:  Able to use tool for the most part  Didn’t know what some of the acronyms meant (CCR)  Couldn’t (easily) find some of the information (zoning enforcement)  Some questions did not apply for an urban setting (Ag issues)

Lessons Learned Need a lot of eyes General questions and subsets Students and practicing PH nurses are at different levels

Resources and Technical Assistance E-commons (coming soon!) EnviRN Scorecard

Resources and Technical Assistance US EPA  Envirofacts  Tools for Schools  Office of Drinking Water  Office of Children’s Health Protection yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm  Office of Pesticides  Office of Lead

Resources and Technical Assistance Local and State Level  Department of Environment Local fish advisories  Department of Health  Department of Natural Resources Soil Conservation Districts  Archives of local newspapers

Envirofacts

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Scorecard

Questions? Robyn Gilden, RN, MS Program Manager University of Maryland School of Nursing Environmental Health Education Center (p) / (f)