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Summary of the
June 1-2, 1999 Meeting
of the Health Care Providers Outreach and Education Working Group,
National Drinking Water Advisory Council
held in Washington, D.C.
I. Introduction
The Health Care Providers Outreach and Education Working Group (HCP)
of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) held its second
face-to-face meeting on June 1st and 2nd, 1999. The Working Group is considering
broad strategic goals for informing and educating health care providers:
"in their efforts to counsel persons about the quality of their drinking
water, and (2) recognize, report, treat and prevent adverse health effects
that can be caused by infectious and non-infectious agents that could
be acquired from drinking water." This summary outlines the principal
issues and future activities discussed at the meeting. A more detailed
meeting summary will be available in July.
I. Major Topics Discussed at the Meeting
Progress Since December 1998 Meeting: In January, the HCP Working
Group agreed on an overall outline for its strategic recommendations which
would revolve around: (1) setting the right context, (2) outlining possible
"messages" for HCPs, and (3) identifying possible networks and communication
approaches to deliver the messages. Since January, several sub- groups
have actively explored draft language. Conference calls were held between
January and May on sub-group efforts, overall integration, and the interface
with the NDWAC Right-to- Know Working Group.
Setting the Context for Strategic Recommendations: Draft language
from two subgroups, setting the stage for near-term and longer-term needs
was considered. It was noted that HCPs should receive more questions from
their patients on drinking water with the release of the Consumer Confidence
Reports in the next few months. Patients will also raise questions due
to coverage of local drinking water quality problems in the media, public
water systems notifying customers of violations of drinking water standards,
water advertisements from bottled water or home water filter companies,
etc. Longer-term concerns reflect the fact that waterborne disease does
continue to be a risk to human health in the United States to some yet
undefined extent. Raising the awareness and education of health care providers
can help respond to this risk. The HCP Working Group noted that education
and outreach, especially to achieve a positive change in clinical practice,
could best be done in concert with other environmental health problems
along with drinking water.
Approaches to Defining the Messages: Plenary and small group discussions
were held at the meeting to ascertain different approaches to communicate
information (or key "messages") to HCPs. The HCP Working Group noted that
traditional approaches to communicate drinking water messages (such as
by contaminant) should be augmented by those focused on individual patient-groups.
Examples of the latter include immune-compromised patients, women of child-
bearing age, the elderly, and infants. Possible example "messages" which
might succinctly address patient and HCP needs might be organized along
such lines as defining the risk for the target group, outlining avoidance
behavior, and suggesting additional scientific and information sources.
Building Communications Networks: The HCP Working Group heard
a series of short presentations on different approaches to build partnerships
with HCPs from a number of environmental health problem areas. Working
Group members felt that networking can address environmental health issues
both directly and indirectly related to drinking water, (e.g. food safety.)
Focus groups with specific HCP specialities could help define the best
strategy for informing, educating, and improving clinical practice.
Right-to-Know and Related Issues: The HCP Working Group provided
insights on the upcoming "Futures Forum" which will address "vulnerable
population" policy and scientific questions on drinking water. The group
also met with liaisons from the NDWAC Right-to-Know Working Group, offering
insight on Consumer Confidence Report outreach products. A draft slide
show for HCP meetings, prepared by a subgroup of the HCP Working Group,
was also reviewed. Comments will be forwarded to the subgroup chairs,
and the revised product will be available on a limited basis in the near
term.
III. Next Steps
It was agreed that the HCP Working Group is making good progress towards
delivering its recommendations to the full NDWAC at their Fall 1999 meeting.
A meeting summary will be sent to the Working Group members in the weeks
ahead. A small drafting group will then prepare draft recommendations
in mid-to-late Summer, which will go through various stages of comment,
augmentation, and revision in the months ahead. At least one full HCP
Working Group conference call will be held in the September/October time-frame
to discuss the revised recommendations.
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