scholarly journals An Approach to Developing Local Climate Change Environmental Public Health Indicators in a Rural District

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Houghton ◽  
Jessica Austin ◽  
Abby Beerman ◽  
Clayton Horton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Environmental Public Health ◽  
Vulnerability Indicators ◽  
Public Health Indicators ◽  
Climate And Health

Climate change represents a significant and growing threat to population health. Rural areas face unique challenges, such as high rates of vulnerable populations; economic uncertainty due to their reliance on industries that are vulnerable to climate change; less resilient infrastructure; and lower levels of access to community and emergency services than urban areas. This article fills a gap in public health practice by developing climate and health environmental public health indicators for a local public health department in a rural area. We adapted the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network’s framework for climate and health indicators to a seven-county health department in Western Kentucky. Using a three-step review process, we identified primary climate-related environmental public health hazards for the region (extreme heat, drought, and flooding) and a suite of related exposure, health outcome, population vulnerability, and environmental vulnerability indicators. Indicators that performed more poorly at the county level than at the state and national level were defined as “high vulnerability.” Six to eight high vulnerability indicators were identified for each county. The local health department plans to use the results to enhance three key areas of existing services: epidemiology, public health preparedness, and community health assessment.

scholarly journals An Approach to Developing Local Climate Change Environmental Public Health Indicators, Vulnerability Assessments, and Projections of Future Impacts

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Houghton ◽  
Paul English
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Guidance Document ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Environmental Public Health ◽  
Vulnerability Assessments ◽  
Public Health Indicators ◽  
Local Climate Change ◽  
The U.S

Environmental public health indicators (EPHIs) are used by local, state, and federal health agencies to track the status of environmental hazards; exposure to those hazards; health effects of exposure; and public health interventions designed to reduce or prevent the hazard, exposure, or resulting health effect. Climate and health EPHIs have been developed at the state, federal, and international levels. However, they are also needed at the local level to track variations in community vulnerability and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions designed to enhance community resilience. This review draws on a guidance document developed by the U.S. Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ State Environmental Health Indicators Collaborative climate change working group to present a three-tiered approach to develop local climate change EPHIs. Local climate change EPHIs can assist local health departments (LHDs) in implementing key steps of the 10 essential public health services and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects framework. They also allow LHDs to incorporate climate-related trends into the larger health department planning process and can be used to perform vulnerability assessments which can be leveraged to ensure that interventions designed to address climate change do not exacerbate existing health disparities.

Environmental Public Health Indicators

Epidemiology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (Suppl) ◽  
pp. S155 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Lobdell ◽  
P Murphy ◽  
R Calderon
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Environmental Public Health ◽  
Public Health Indicators

Development of environmental public health indicators for assessing policies and interventions

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Mitsakou* ◽  
Sani Dimitroulopoulou ◽  
Sotiris Vardoulakis ◽  
Clare Heaviside ◽  
Klea Katsouyanni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Environmental Public Health ◽  
Public Health Indicators

scholarly journals Epidemiological Effectiveness and Cost of a Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Response in New River Valley, Virginia: Local Health Department and Clinical Perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Nargesalsadat Dorratoltaj ◽  
Margaret L. O’Dell ◽  
Paige Bordwine ◽  
Thomas M. Kerkering ◽  
Kerry J. Redican ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Local Health Department ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Fungal Meningitis ◽  
Life Years

AbstractObjectiveWe evaluated the effectiveness and cost of a fungal meningitis outbreak response in the New River Valley of Virginia during 2012-2013 from the perspective of the local public health department and clinical facilities. The fungal meningitis outbreak affected 23 states in the United States with 751 cases and 64 deaths in 20 states; there were 56 cases and 5 deaths in Virginia.MethodsWe conducted a partial economic evaluation of the fungal meningitis outbreak response in New River Valley. We collected costs associated with the local health department and clinical facilities in the outbreak response and estimated the epidemiological effectiveness by using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted.ResultsWe estimated the epidemiological effectiveness of this outbreak response to be 153 DALYs averted among the patients, and the costs incurred by the local health department and clinical facilities to be $30,413 and $39,580, respectively.ConclusionsWe estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $198 per DALY averted and $258 per DALY averted from the local health department and clinical perspectives, respectively, thereby assisting in impact evaluation of the outbreak response by the local health department and clinical facilities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:38–46)

Supporting Health Equity Through Data-Driven Decision-Making: A Local Health Department Response to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (S3) ◽  
pp. S197-S200
Author(s):  
Elinor Hansotte ◽  
Elizabeth Bowman ◽  
P. Joseph Gibson ◽  
Brian E. Dixon ◽  
Virgil R. Madden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Targeted Testing ◽  
Testing Site ◽  
County Public Health

COVID-19 highlights preexisting inequities that affect health outcomes and access to care for Black and Brown Americans. The Marion County Public Health Department in Indiana sought to address inequities in COVID-19 testing by using surveillance data to place community testing sites in areas with the highest incidence of disease. Testing site demographic data indicated that targeted testing reached populations with the highest disease burden, suggesting that local health departments can effectively use surveillance data as a tool to address inequities. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(S3):S197–S200. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306421 )

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