Competency #2: Engage communities throughout the public health assessment (PHA) process.

Purpose

After completing Competency #2, you will be able to develop effective community engagement strategies to increase and maintain the community’s trust and participation during the PHA process.

A group of diverse people attending a meeting in a community center.

Courses and Training Videos

Modules

  • Online Public Health Assessment Training (PHAT) - In this series of online and interactive modules, you will learn the fundamentals of the PHA process. For this competency, please review the last section of PHAT Module 2.
    • PHAT Module 2: PHA Overview - This module has three sections with the third section describing how to engage the community in the PHA process. It provides you with tips for effectively engaging the community. It also describes you how ATSDR conducts community meetings.

Guidance

Public Health Assessment Guidance Manual (PHAGM)

PHAGM describes methods and resources that you can use to evaluate environmental exposures associated with environmental contamination. For this competency, please review PHAGM’s section on engaging the community.

  • PHAGM's Engaging the Community Section - In this section in PHAGM, you will learn about the goals and phases of the community engagement process. You will also learn about valuable strategies, actions, tools, and activities to work with the community.

Other Community-Related Guidance and Resources

  • Community Engagement Playbook - This playbook will guide you through the phases and activities of community engagement. The four phases are:
    • Setting the stage
    • Getting started
    • Keeping it going
    • Wrapping up
  • Health Communication Playbook - Refer to the Health Communication Playbook for practical communication materials and resources, including sample fact sheets, press releases, and more. In the playbook, you will find communication tips, worksheets, checklists, and step-by-step instructions to get you started.
  • Community Stress Resource Center - In this online resource center, you will find guidance and tools to help you work with communities affected by psychological and social stress due to environmental contamination.
  • Environmental Odors - Website In this website, you can find information on odors and health, approaches for addressing odors in communities, and ways for groups to be involved in odor management decisions.
  • Odor Diaries - This page explains how communities can get involved by keeping odor diaries, finding solutions, and requesting actions. A series of videos provide an overview for reducing environmental odors in communities. They will teach you about odor sources, symptoms related with odors, and groups that are sensitive to odors.
  • Educational Videos on Environmental Health - Watch these short videos to learn about numerous environmental health topics, including lead poisoning, environmental justice, cancer clusters, and climate health, to name a few.
  • Environmental Health Social Media Toolkit for Partners - You can use this social media toolkit to plan strategies for your programs, develop appropriate messages for your audiences, and distribute environmental health content on social media.

Tools

Communication Tools

ATSDR Communication Toolkit - This toolkit will help you improve your communication efforts with local communities. In the toolkit, you will find

  • Customizable tools for simplifying communication,
  • Guidance on responding to different levels of concern,
  • A way to set realistic expectations, and
  • Ways to measure the usefulness of the PHA process.

Selected tools from the ATSDR Communication Toolkit

Media Analysis Guide - In this guide, you will find tips on how to do a quick media analysis to gather data about the site and help determine the level of concern in the community.

Community Data Worksheet - Use this worksheet to organize in one place the information you have gathered from surveys, interviews, Internet searches, and media analysis.

Event Evaluation Form - This is an example of the type of questions that can help you and the site team evaluate the success of a community event conducted as part of the PHA process.

Stakeholder/Partner Outreach Tool - This worksheet will guide you and the ATSDR site team through the process of identifying and tracking contact information for key stakeholders and potential partners.

CDC's Social Media Channels - This CDC website provides links to the official social media channels of the CDC, where you can access reliable, science-based health information.

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Content Source:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry