ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE
Open Access
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
(8tra)t Environmental health is practiced primarily at the local level; however, many of the skills held by environmental health prac- titioners (EHPs) are transferable globally. There is currently a shortage of EHPs in many parts of the world and formally recognizing the transferabil- ity of skills and knowledge within the profession might encourage people to consider environmental health as a profession, helping to address the short- age. To facilitate this transferability, our global community of practice has mapped the environmental health practice requirements of the U.S., UK, and Australia to enable comparison of each one to the others and demonstrate the level of similarity in practice requirements. Our ultimate goal is to facili- tate memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between the various professional bodies that oversee environmental health practice, which would allow quali- fied EHPs to practice in any of these countries. This flexibility would benefit the profession, professional practice, and individuals. MOUs are a way to recognize the similarities and dierences between practices in these coun- tries and provide pathways to address dierences when they exist, such as via short courses and work experience. We present data to illustrate our argument that there is much overlap in the practice of EHPs. We see our research as a first step to engage with professional bodies in other countries and to facilitate MOUs between many countries, both to raise the profile of environmental health globally and to provide an attractive pathway for people to consider environmental health as a profession. Keywords: cross-country recognition, environmental health practice, United Kingdom, United States, Australia International Environmental Health Skills, Knowledge, and Qualifications: Enhancing Professional Practice Through Agreements Between Countries
primarily at the local level (Dyjack, 2015; Rodrigues et al., 2021; Whiley et al., 2019), but many of the skills held by EHPs are trans- ferable globally, which was made clear dur- ing the COVID-19 pandemic (Dyjack et al., 2021; Rodrigues et al., 2021). A major impediment to practicing envi- ronmental health in a country that an EHP did not graduate from is that environmental health practice is often conducted under spe- cific pieces of national or state legislation, including various public health and food acts. Authorization to use these legal tools generally is conferred by holding accredited qualifica- tions acquired through university study, con- University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Graeme Mitchell, MSc, MCIEH, CEnvH Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University Inga Ploompuu, MSc Tartu Health Care College, University of Tartu Matilde A. Rodrigues, MSc, PhD Center for Translational Health and Medical Biotechnology Research, School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto Lindsay Shaw, MSc, MIOA, CEnvH Environmental Health, Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Ulster University Kirstin E. Ross, PhD, GradDipEnvH Environmental Health, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University David T. Dyjack, DrPH, CIH National Environmental Health Association Adam Choonara, MCIEH, CEnvH Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Natural Sciences, Middlesex University Gayle Davis, MPH, MIOA, SFHEA, CEnvH Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University Henry Dawson, MSc, CMCIEH, SFHEA Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University Toni Hannelly, DrPH, FEHA, FHEA School of Population Health, Curtin University Zena Lynch, MA, CMCIEH, FCIEH, SFHEA
I ntroduction Environmental health is a multifaceted discipline, and practitioner skill sets include assessment of risk, interpretation of legislation, implementation of policy, and application of regulatory tools (Friis, 2018;
Frumkin, 2016). Environmental health prac- titioners (EHPs) are also skilled negotiators and communicators and are well-versed in working with personnel in other disciplines (Bartram & Setty, 2021; Eldridge & Tenkate, 2006). Environmental health is practiced
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