DirecTalk continued from page 46
I am confident we would benefit from tell- ing a better story with our data. A story with a face on it. A story rooted in science, leveraged with environmental health data, and punctu- ated with emotion. A story that speaks to the public health enterprise, a profession that is literally an ospring of our making. I believe public health is part of environmental health, not the other way around. I leave you with this riddle. The riddle of the ordinary. We’ve created the impression, through our humble nature, that we are an ordinary profession, albeit with extraordi- nary implications for the health, safety, and economic security of communities every- where. I say I leave you because I plan to communicate my thoughts and struggles, both real and perhaps imaginary, in some other format. Like the Rio Grande, the sym- bolic abyss separating desperate people in poverty from opportunity, I want to explore other communications vehicles, other ways to bridge ideas. I leave the back pages of the Journal to other’s imaginations.
This situation represents a conundrum for me in my role as executive director of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA). I’m an advocate for the eciency and transparency that our current data collection and assessment systems provide. Yet these things don’t seem to create and deliver recognized value to many influential stakeholders such as health ocials, boards of health, and the clinical professions. This perception in turn presents an existen- tial question—does NEHA invest its limited resources in ensuring that every governmental environmental health program, independent of size, has and uses software that enhances e- ciency and performance at the local level or do we spend our time ensuring that the greater pub- lic health system acknowledges and embraces the latent expertise and sophistication within the greater environmental health universe? My question might be abstract to some readers. They will say, “Do both!” I’m guess- ing others will judge my quandary with appre- ciation. Others will question its relevancy. Do we focus on ourselves or do we focus on the system? In a world with limited resources, these are painful zero-sum decisions.
The Window View Trail at Big Bend National Park: A vast, quixotic landscape imbued with mystery and complexity. Photo courtesy of David Dyjack.
ddyjack@neha.org Twitter: @DTDyjack
The NEHA Government Aairs program advocates for support of environmental health programs and professionals at federal, state, and local levels of government. We function as a liaison between environmental health professionals and government ocials to inform decisions that support and fund our workforce. You can stay up-to-date on our work at www.neha.org/advocacy. Check out our blogs, webinars, current policy and position statements, and recent state and federal legislative actions.
Did You Know?
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January/February 2023 • Journal of Environmental Health
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