The purpose of this course is to equip environmental/public health professionals with strategies for successfully utilizing the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) guidebook , a flexible and collaborative community-based environmental health assessment process developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), with support by the National Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After completing this self-paced course, you should be able to:

• Develop a basic understanding of the philosophy, methodology, and value of PACE EH
• Identify skills, resources and capacities needed to facilitate a successful PACE EH process
• Have acquired enough knowledge of the process to fully participate in an in-depth PACE EH regional training.

Upon completion of this course, participants may increase their knowledge through advanced trainings that will be available throughout the U.S. on an on-going basis by NACCHO. The PACE EH regional trainings are designed to help participants gain a better understanding of the practical aspects of implementing the process. The regional trainings also offer opportunities to explore broader connections to related topics such as addressing environmental health inequities using PACE EH.  See: www.naccho.org/topics/environmental/CEHA.cfm for more information on regional training opportunities.

Test your knowledge of PACE EH.  Click here to take the pre-assessment questionnaire.

Community-based environmental health assessments, such as PACE EH, offer several advantages in addressing environmental health issues by:

• encouraging effective communication, data collection and building trust between local environmental health practitioners and their constituents, and

• fostering a greater leadership role for environmental health professionals.

PACE EH places a strong emphasis on partnerships between community members, community partner organizations, environmental/public health professionals, and elected officials to identify local environmental health concerns and create action steps to improve local environmental health beyond traditional regulatory practices. PACE EH adheres to the core functions of public health, principles of community collaboration, and many of the principles of environmental justice by:

• identifying local issues,
• setting priorities for action,
• targeting populations most at risk, and
• through collaboration, strategically addressing the identified issues. 

Patrick Libbey, Executive Director  National Association of County and City Health Officials  "PACE EH provides a proven community-based approach for local environmental health practitioners to move beyond the regulatory and reactionary mode to create multi-constituency support to proactively address the broader range of environmental public health issues that affect the public's health and quality of life.  PACE EH is grounded in the core functions of public health and the principles of community collaboration, which encourages a clearer understanding of environmental health as the foundation of public health and optimizes community support and awareness to make a stronger impact on the environmental health status of our communities."

Henry Falk, M.D., M.P.H., Director Director, Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention "Community involvement is essential to improving the environment and health.  The Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) is a means for communities to become aware of and involved in solving local environmental public health problems.  This valuable community tool will guide you in forming effective coalitions and conducting locally appropriate environmental health assessments.”