Health Tracking

Legal Epidemiology Webinar Series, Part 1

Legal Epidemiology, Part 1:  A Tool for Advancing from Data to Policy

Please register at http://neha.org/node/59017

Date: Wednesday, May 10th

Time: 1:00 - 2:30PM EDT

This activity has been approved for 1.5 NEHA Continuing Education hours.

In this webinar, speakers from CDC’s Public Health Law Program will define and characterize legal epidemiology, and describe how it can be used as a tool when advancing from data to policy.

*Note: Webinar audio will be broadcast through attendees' computer speakers.

Childhood Lead Poisoning

A Hidden Problem: Lead Poisoned Children in the United States

A recent study by the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, a program of the Public Health Institute takes a close look at the surveillance and reporting of lead poisoning within the United States. This study takes a fresh look at childhood lead poisoning and the assumption that all children are tested. Learn more at www.cehtp.org/hiddenlead.

Lead Poisoned Children in United States Infographic

 

EH Topics: 
Health Tracking

Legal Epidemiology

Laws and policies are essential to environmental health issues. Legal epidemiology is an emerging field that blends the practice of developing and implementing health laws with the scientific evaluation of how laws can affect health. Legal epidemiology is defined as: The scientific study of law as a factor in the cause, distribution and prevention of disease and injury. 

Legal epidemiological research can cover a wide variety of environmental health law topics such as:

  • Laws limiting exposures to disease-causing substances
  • Laws that regulate the use and disposal of harmful chemicals and materials
  • Laws creating parks and other community spaces
  • Laws establishing new frameworks like Health in All Policies (HiAP)

Local environmental health professionals, in particular, should be aware of legal epidemiological tools because it is harder for them to look across jurisdictions for best practices, due to lack of current information on law and policy. Using legal epidemiology can help with these barriers. Local environmental health professionals who conduct surveillance on their own laws and policies can use that information for evaluation and future program planning.

Webinar Series: An Introduction to Legal Epidemiology

NEHA, in collaboration with CDC's Public Health Law Program, is hosting a 3-part webinar series that examines the use of legal epidemiology to address environmental health. The first webinar will serve as an introduction to legal epidemiology and a discussion of the relationship between environmental health and policy. The second webinar will serve as legal epidemiology training for environmental health practitioners. The third webinar will offer a primer on the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach and demonstrate how legal epidemiology can be used as a tool in tracking the growth of HiAP laws, policies and programs across the country and identifying current trends.

Learn More About Webinar Series

EH Topics: 
Health Tracking

EPH Tracking Virtual Conference

Environmental Public Health Tracking Virtual Conference The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Environmental Health Tracking Branch (Tracking Branch) to host a virtual conference to 1) raise awareness and knowledge about the environment’s role in asthma and other chronic diseases and 2) highlight collaboration opportunities between state leaders, decision makers and practitioners working in environmental health and chronic disease prevention.

Informatics Resources

The Informatics Resources available here serve to support environmental health informatics programs and data-use activities. These resources showcase data collection, sharing, and use stories and serve to support the implementation of these activities within your own program.  Amongst these resources, you will find online education, a searchable repository of free and low-cost tools, case studies, tools to support the request for proposal process, and more. Through the utilization of these resources, we hope that data can be used to inform and improve programs, policies, and public health. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at programs@neha.org.

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EH Topics: 
Health Tracking

Informatics

Environmental and public health informatics is an emerging field that focuses on standardized data collection, sharing, and use. Data is transformed into information that is then used to better inform and develop programs. By moving towards the wider adoption and use of informatics systems, we can expect data-informed decision making that will improve population health.

Local, state, and federal agencies collect environmental health data that may not always be routinely analyzed or used to inform public health initiatives, especially at smaller local-level agencies. Environmental health professionals collect data through inspections, complaint investigations, and community interactions. The incorporation of this data with other public health data has the potential to inform programs in ways that have not yet existed. Imagine a physician taking a patient’s home environment into account when making a diagnosis. Or, imagine using an app to easily assess the safety of an aquatic facility, restaurant, or body art studio. 

Emerging Issues

Environmental health and public health programs, as well as health care facilities, have the potential to make an even greater impact on community health through increased data collection and sharing. Opportunities include:

  • increased advocacy for resources
  • establishment of data standards
  • easier sharing of data internally and across agencies
  • development of tools and trainings 

Learn more about Informatics: 

NEHA’s Informatics Resources serve to support environmental health informatics programs and data-use activities. These resources showcase data collection, sharing, and use stories and serve to support the implementation of these activities within your own program.  Resources include online education, a repository of free and low-cost tools, case studies, and more.

​View Informatics Resources

Environmental Public Health Tracking 

Environmental and public health tracking and informatics is an essential piece of local, state, tribal and federal agencies as it relates to the status of the public and environmental health in this country.  Data is the holy grail of information for local health departments and federal agencies alike for determining what projects to take on next and how to better the community. Some would even suggest that data has been responsible for diverting illness and potentially saving lives. Well, environmental health does save lives, money and protect the future, right? So why wouldn't data? 

NEHA and the CDC have partnered to help engage local health departments to start sharing data to better inform the community while contributing to a nation-wide network. Environmental Health tracking is about engagement and access and NEHA is constantly working with EH professionals to use data effectively, and share data efficiently. 

CHAT Webinar SeriesCHAT Webinar Series

In partnership with CDC’s NCEH, NEHA will be hosting the Communication in Environmental Health and Tracking (CHAT) Webinar Series. This five-part webinar series will explore different communication and outreach strategies to facilitate a tracking program's engagement with traditional and non-traditional partners, impact policy and work effectively across divisions.

Webinar I: Communication Tools and Strategies for Tracking Programs to Engage with Local Health Departments: Wisconsin’s Use of Mini-Grant Program

Webinar II: Communication Tools and Strategies for Tracking Programs for Working Across Divisions: Vermont's Testing for Lead in School Drinking Water Pilot Project

Webinar III: Communication Tools and Strategies for Tracking Programs to Engage with Non-Traditional Partners: Utah Tracking and its Innovative Partnerships

WATCH PREVIOUS WebinaRS  

 

GREAT Programs Webinar logoGREAT Programs 

NEHA partnered  with CDC Tracking on the GREAT Programs webinar and resources focused on utilizing student interns in program activities. The webinar highlighted two CDC grantee tracking internship programs at the New York State Department of Health and the Wisonsin Department of Health Services. The speakers discussed their experiences developing and supervising internship programs, one of which has developed into a funded program with promotional materials. Visit the Building Programs Through Student Internships page, to access the Student Internship Sample Workplan and the Student Internship FAQ.

 

 
EH Topics: 
Health Tracking

Advances in Causal Understanding

New molecular and bioinformatic approaches have advanced understanding of how molecular pathways are affected by exposure and the molecular networks involved in disease. However, these advances are often not yet deemed sufficient to establish causality for public health risk assessments; regulators still rely primarily on traditional apical endpoints, such as those endpoints observed in animal studies.

Tracking, Technology, Data and Climate Change

Tracking, Technology, Data and Climate Change

Health tracking, technology and data play a huge role in curbing the effects of climate change. By providing resources to local health departments on the current state of climate change in any given region, environmental health professionals can move forward with the best techniques to continue fighting climate change. NEHA offers a number of courses on how to better use technology to help the environmental health profession.

Additional Resources:

EH Topics: 
Climate Change
Health Tracking

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