NEHA September 2025 Journal of Environmental Health

ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE

Open Access

Abstract This article provides a brief overview of participant feedback on the Environmental Health and Land Reuse (EHLR) Classroom Training up to 12 months post-training. The goal was to assess the eectiveness of the EHLR training over time as related to specific outcomes. The outcomes included increasing capacity to engage communities around land reuse concerns, evaluating and communicating environmental and health risks, redesigning communities to improve health, and assessing the ability to measure environmental and health change over the course of community redevelopment. To assess long-term impacts of the training, within 12 months post-training, we repeated initial knowledge assessment questions answered immediately post-training. We also asked participants to specify if there were any aspects of the training that were most useful to them. The survey response rate among participants who completed all five training modules was 22%. The majority of respondents indicated that the training was eective and useful over the long term. While the response rate was low, the clustering of responses to similar prompts from the initial and long-term knowledge assessments indicated that survey respondents found the training eective and useful. Responses indicated that the training provided new knowledge, increased participant confidence to engage in EHLR topics, and motivated participants to learn more. Keywords: environmental health, environmental health education, community engagement, brownfields, land reuse Development, Evaluation, and Long-Term Outcomes of Environmental Health and Land Reuse Training, Part 2—Environmental Health and Land Reuse Trainings for Environmental Health Professionals: Long-Term Follow-Up

Laurel Berman, PhD Office of Capacity Development and Applied Prevention Science, Agency for Toxic Substances

and Disease Registry Sharon Unkart, PhD National Environmental

Health Association Michael Lewin, MS Office of Community Health Hazard Assessment, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Rebecca Labbo, MA National Environmental Health Association Huda Shareef, MPH Oak Ridge Institute of Science

and Education (Former) Dawnovise Fowler, PhD

Office of Capacity Development and Applied Prevention Science, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Despite working on land reuse, 75% of the respondents indicated having no formal edu- cation (e.g., college-level classes) or only continuing education courses related to land reuse/brownfields (Berman et al., 2019). Land reuse sites are properties slated for redevelopment that might have chemical contamination. Such sites are commonly blighted, underused, or vacant properties. These sites can be contaminated from pre- vious industrial uses or hazardous build- ing materials, such as materials containing asbestos or lead-based paint. Brownfields and land reuse sites can negatively a ect the overall health of the community. To increase environmental health professionals’ capac- ity to engage in land reuse and fill training gaps, ATSDR and NEHA developed the Envi- ronmental Health and Land Reuse (EHLR) Classroom Training. Community engage- ment, the topic of Module 1, is a binding thread woven throughout the five modules of the EHLR Classroom Training. The EHLR modules are: 1.Engaging With Your Community 2.Evaluating Environmental and Health Risks 3.Communicating Environmental and Health Risks to the Community

Introduction Environmental health professionals require support and technical assistance to e ec- tively engage communities while reducing exposures to harmful chemicals in the envi- ronment. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) Land Reuse Health Program helps build an environmen- tal health workforce and partnership for the advancement of community engagement capacity and general environmental health skills. ATSDR builds and leverages capacity

from partnerships with the National Envi- ronmental Health Association (NEHA) and other federal, state, and local entities to engage communities, train environmental health professionals, and advance commu- nity engagement and land reuse knowledge. Through a partnership with NEHA, ATSDR identified gaps in environmental health pro- fessionals’ education related to land reuse. In 2016, NEHA conducted a survey of 92 local health department respondents who indicated they worked on land reuse issues.

Volume 88 • Number 2

https://doi.org/10.70387/001c.144001