Planning and Capacity Building Activities
| Grantee: | New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services |
|---|---|
| Contact: | Matthew Cahillane |
| Telephone: | 603-271-4988 |
| E-mail: | mcahilla@dhhs.state.nh.us |
| Address: | New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services 29 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03301-6527 |
| Web site: | http://www.des.nh.gov/EHTP/ [external link] |
| Funded Since: | September 30, 2002 |
| Funded Program: | National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, Part A |
Program Description:
The State of New Hampshire (NH) proposes a collaborative effort between the NH Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Community and Public Health (OCPH) and the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) to map, build, and use a new system of environmental public health tracking (EPHT). New Hampshire’s commitment to cooperative efforts is evidenced in numerous projects including a mercury-in-fish advisory, hazardous waste cleanup, indoor air quality, sludge, water fluoridation, and air quality alert days.
The primary components of the EPHT system include an office staffed with data linkage professionals, a planning consortium of experts and stakeholders, and training tools to assist state and local surveillance staff. The EPHT system will be a standards-based process built upon staged improvement of data linkages that allow direct electronic data reporting across the following three areas: 1) human health effects (disease), 2) exposure, and 3) environmental hazard data. The EPHT network will be based on a public health tracking logic model of progress and feedback that links health effects to disease prevention and health promotion activities. The project plans to develop strategies for communicating information generated by the system to a diverse audience in collaboration with the nearest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Center of Excellence in EPHT.
