An ever-changing landscape for environmental health (EH) requires in-depth assessment and analysis of the current challenges and emerging issues faced by EH professionals. The Understanding the Needs, Challenges, Opportunities, Vision, and Emerging Roles in Environmental Health initiative addressed this need. After receiving responses from more than 1700 practitioners, during an in-person workshop, focus groups identified and described priority problems and supplied context on addressing the significant challenges facing EH professionals with state health agencies and local health departments. The focus groups developed specific problem statements detailing the EH profession and workforce’s prevailing challenges and needs according to 6 themes, including effective leadership, workforce development, equipment and technology, information systems and data, garnering support, and partnerships and collaboration. We describe the identified priority problems and needs and provide recommendations for ensuring a strong and robust EH profession and workforce ready to address tomorrow’s challenges.
BACKGROUND: Environmental health (EH) professionals, one of the largest segments of the public health workforce, are responsible for delivery of essential environmental public health services. The challenges facing these professionals and research needs to improve EH practice are not fully understood, but 26% of EH professionals working in health departments of the United States plan to retire in 5 y, while only 6% of public health students are currently pursuing EH concentrations. OBJECTIVES: A groundbreaking initiative was recently launched to understand EH practice in health departments of the United States. This commentary article aims to identify priority EH practice challenges and related research needs for health departments. METHODS: A horizon scanning approach was conducted in which challenges facing EH professionals were provided by 1,736 respondents working at health departments who responded to a web-based survey fielded in November 2017. Thematic analyses of the responses and determining the frequency at which respondents reported specific issues and opportunities identified primary EH topic areas. These topic areas and related issues informed focus group discussions at an in-person workshop held in Anaheim, California. The purpose of the in-person workshop was to engage each of the topic areas and issues, through facilitated focus groups, leading to the formation of four to five related problem statements for each EH topic. DISCUSSION: EH professionals are strategically positioned to diagnose, intervene, and prevent public health threats. Focus group engagement resulted in 29 priority problem statements partitioned among 6 EH topic areas: a) drinking water quality, b) wastewater management, c) healthy homes, d) food safety, e) vectors and public health pests, and f) emerging issues. This commentary article identifies priority challenges and related research needs to catalyze effective delivery of essential environmental public health services for common EH program areas in health departments. An unprecedented initiative to revitalize EH practice with timely and strategic recommendations for student and professional training, nontraditional partnerships, and basic and translational research activities is recommended.
After the U.S. Caribbean 2017 hurricanes, rebuilding, strengthening, and sustaining essential environmental health (EH) services and systems were critical. The National Environmental Health Association, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developed an online mentorship program for both newly hired and existing environmental health staff, as well as health department leadership in the Caribbean health departments. Participants were provided both practical and didactic learning and were given the opportunity to evaluate the program. Both mentors and mentees were highly satisfied with the knowledge and skills acquired, and mentees expressed it was relevant to their daily work. Based on the findings, we recommend both an online and a hybrid mentorship program be considered for leadership- and inspector-level workforces in EH and potentially other fields.
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