Strengthening

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Children’s Environmental Health Project “Strengthening the Capacity of Health Professionals Serving Minority and Low-Income Communities to Better Identify, Manage, and Prevent Environmental Health Risks” focuses on providing health professionals who serve low-income, immigrant/refugee and minority children in small cities and rural areas in New England with the knowledge and skills to better identify, manage, and prevent environmental health risks, a population that is generally underserved by children’s environmental health capacity building efforts although it suffers disproportionately from the impacts of environmental contaminants.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Health and Environment, in collaboration with the Center for Family, work & Community and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production works closely with the primary health care providers for such communities, including community health centers, community health educators, school nurses, and emergency department staff. UMass Lowell also targets public health nurses as they have an increasingly important role in identification and prevention of environmental risks at the community level. The targeted focus on New England is important since environmental health infrastructure is developed locally and regionally rather than nationally. More than 400 health-care professionals have been trained throughout New England.  

For more information contact David_Turcotte.