UNCOVER EH
The work of environmental public health professionals is critical to protect public health and the environment, yet these efforts often go unnoticed until problems occur (e.g., foodborne outbreaks, vector borne diseases, contaminated water supplies, disasters).The UNCOVER EH (Understanding the Needs, Challenges, Opportunities, Vision and Emerging Roles in Environmental Health) initiative plays a critical part in understanding the workforce, the challenges it faces, and the solutions needed.
The initiative:
- Collected information from more than 1,700 environmental health professionals working in U.S. health departments through an online survey and regional workshops
- Identified and described key environmental health workforce and practice elements (professional demographics, areas of practice, current and future challenges and opportunities)
- Provided an initial assessment of the profession’s health department workforce and practice
The findings:
- Provide a foundation for leaders and decision makers to make evidence-based decisions regarding workforce capacity and public health safety for their communities
- Serves as a tool to plan for environmental public health training needs and emerging issues
- Reports, interpretations, and opinions
- Summaries and visuals
We partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Baylor University on this initiative.