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- identify environmental health issues,
- prioritize the identified issues,
- develop action plans, and
- evaluate the progress to address selected issues.
- Building networks and collaboration.
- Improving knowledge and skills in environmental health issues and collaborative processes.
- Increasing awareness of environmental health concerns.
- Increasing trust between collaborators.
- Strengthening the perception of the health agency as leader.
- Monitor Health
- Diagnose and Investigate
- Inform, Educate, and Empower
- Mobilize Community Partnerships
- Develop Policies
- Assure a Competent Workforce
One of the principal goals of conducting a community environmental health assessment (CEHA) process is to improve the health status of a community and thereby to achieve CDC’s Healthy Communities Goal: “Increase the number of communities that protect, and promote health and safety and prevent illness and injury in all their members” (Healthy Communities)
The Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) began in July 1995 as a multiyear partnership between the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH).PACE EH is the methodology promoted by
NCEH and
NACCHO to
conduct CEHAs in both domestic and international settings. PACE
EH offers guidance to communities and local health
officials for conducting community-based environmental health
assessments to
Why Use a CEHA Process in Your Community?
PACE EH was designed to improve the environmental health decision-making process by strengthening community involvement so that public values and priorities are considered. The PACE EH guidebook (Spanish version) [PDF, 933 KB] offers guidance for improving local environmental health status and redefining the role of leadership in local environmental health.
Results from the PACE EH process evaluation conducted by the Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation concluded that the major impacts of implementing a CEHA such as the one recommended in PACE EH include the following:
How Do CEHAs Strengthen Environmental Health Programs?
PACE EH and other CEHA processes can be used to operationalize the 10 Essential Services of Environmental Public Health.
Local environmental health agencies most often mention the following essential services being strengthened as part of their PACE EH processes:
Assessment
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A
CDC Contact Center: 800-CDC-INFO • 888-232-6348 (TTY)
