Pediatric Environmental History Initiative
Resources in this Section:
- Pediatric Environmental History Forms
- Pediatric Enviromental History Primer (PDF)
- Environmental Health History for Pediatrics (PPT, 3.61MB)
- Resources
- Advisory Committee
Goal: Incorporate environmental history taking into the pediatric clinical practice of health care providers.
NEEF's Pediatric Environmental History Initiative is a multi-year
campaign to make environmental history-taking a routine practice
for health care providers. This will enable health care providers
to address environmental conditions that may prevent a child from
reaching optimum health, increase public awareness of environmental
exposures, and improve communication between health professionals
and the public on environmental exposure-related disease.
Pediatric medical and nursing education currently lacks the environmental
health content necessary to appropriately prepare pediatric health care
professionals to prevent, recognize, manage, and treat environmental-exposure-related
disease.[1] Taking a good environmental history is a critical first step
for addressing health conditions associated with environmental exposures.
However, few health care providers are trained in environmental history
taking.[2] Several medical, nursing, and public health organizations, including
American Academy of Pediatrics, Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and National
Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, have endorsed the Health Professionals
and Environmental Health Education Position Statement (PDF), which calls for
incorporating the ability to elicit an environmental exposure history into
health care provider education and practice.
In order to provide the tools needed to incorporate environmental history taking into medical and nursing training for clinicians, NEEF created a user-friendly environmental history form for health care providers treating pediatric patients. The form draws from the medical literature and current best practices and is supplemented by an environmental history primer (PDF).[3]
Sources:
[1] McCurdy L, Roberts J, Rogers B, Love R, Etzel R, Paulson J, Witherspoon N, Dearry A. Incorporating Environmental Health Into Pediatric Medical and Nursing Education. Environmental Health Perspectives. Dec 2004;112(17):1755-1760. Available at Environmental Health Perspectives.
[2] Kilpatrick N, Frumkin H, Trowbridge J, Escoffery C, Geller R, Rubin I, et al. 2002. The environmental history in pediatric practice: a study of pediatricians' attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Environ Health Perspect. 110: 823-827.
[3] Rogers B. Environmental health hazards and health care professional education. AAOHN J. 2004; 52(4):154-155. Position Statement: Health Professionals and Environmental Health Education.
Funded in part by The New York Community Trust