Pillars of Governmental Environmental Public Health | A Guide to Scalable Environmental Public Health Programs
How This Document Was Developed The Pillars of Governmental Environmental Public Health was developed through a comprehensive research collab- oration between the National Environmental Health Asso- ciation (NEHA) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Public Health. This framework emerged from an extensive study conducted in 2024 that surveyed hun- dreds of environmental public health professionals across 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The research was built on previous work in 2023 that identified 11 core EPH programs through a Delphi panel of senior EPH professionals, followed by focus groups and key informant interviews to capture qualitative insights. This research was specifically designed to gather perspectives from EPH professionals, capturing insights on program structure, staffing standards, educational requirements, credentialing needs, and workload expectations across multiple program areas. The resulting guidelines pre- sented reflect the collective wisdom and practical expe - rience of hundreds of EPH professionals who understand the day-to-day realities of protecting public health while working within diverse organizational structures and resource constraints. Scalable Guidelines Approach The recommendations provided are intended as scalable guidelines rather than rigid requirements. Most jurisdic- tions possess unique EPH challenges, resources, demo- graphics, and governmental structures. What works in a large urban government agency might not be suitable for a
small, rural jurisdiction with different priorities and poten- tially fewer resources. The scalable guidelines presented here offer a flexible framework that can be adapted to: • Jurisdictions of varying sizes. • Agencies with different levels of resources and staffing. • Communities with distinct environmental health priorities based on culture, geography, climate, industry, and population characteristics. • Diverse governance structures, including county, city, district, or combined jurisdictions. • Inconsistent regulatory authorities granted under state and local laws. The purpose of this guide is to provide EPH directors, man- agers, supervisors, and field staff with evidence-based recommendations that help them develop, implement, and sustain effective programs. These guidelines serve as a starting point for program assessment and advo- cacy efforts, offering benchmarks for staffing, education, training, certification, outcome measures, and equipment needs that can be adapted to match specific departmental and community circumstances. EPH leaders can consider these guidelines as a starting point for program develop- ment and assessment, adapting the recommendations to match their specific circumstances. Rather than present - ing a one-size-fits-all approach, this guide provides evi - dence-based parameters that can be scaled up or down based on department and community needs, regulatory responsibilities, and available resources.
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