The Public Health Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indian Health Service and National Environmental Health Association are collaborating to provide training to Tribal health departments on the public health aspects of safe drinking water. This training opportunity will introduce participants to the
10 Essential Environmental Public Health Services (EEPHS) and how this framework can be used to help ensure the provision of safe drinking water. The course content is tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities experienced by Tribal drinking water programs. This course will primarily focus on unregulated drinking water sources, however the concepts may also be applied to regulated water systems.
Overview of Tribal Water Issues
Safe drinking water from the source to the tap is critical to protecting human health and many rural communities and Tribes are struggling to provide safe water to consumers. A primary goal of a Tribal water program is the assurance of safe drinking water to Tribal members. The prominent challenges with reaching this goal include developing and maintaining technical, financial and managerial capacity, informing consumers about the safety and benefits of safe water, and dealing with the unique scenarios presented by remote locations, harsh climates, small populations, and limited economies of scale. Similar to the overall US population, Tribes receive their drinking water through both regulated public water systems and unregulated water sources. The most common unregulated water source is private wells. Other unregulated sources include rainwater harvesting, springs, river and lakes, or livestock watering points.
The 10 Essential Environmental Public Health Services and Quality Improvement
The EEPHS describe the collective set of capacities and activities necessary in an environmental health system or program to effectively support the provision of services and programs needed to improve and protect environmental health. These 10 services identify the actions necessary to protect and improve environmental public health. With the help of this course and quality improvement tools, participants will be better equipped to address the longstanding challenges inherent to ensuring the provision of safe drinking water to tribal communities. For example, Tribal drinking water programs may become more proficient in collecting and using data to guide management and operational decisions and increasing the effectiveness of efforts to educate tribal members about drinking water matters.
Intended Audience
Each Tribe may bring up to three participants. For example, the primary participant should be a mid to senior level Tribal health department staff member looking to enhance their understanding of the EEPHS and their use for improving or developing drinking water programs. A second participant could be a key partner needed to implement or carry out program improvement initiatives or an accreditation/performance improvement staff member. PHF will reimburse travel for all non-Federal employees.
Training Overview
The course will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, March 21-23, 2017.
Learning Objectives
- Translate the Environmental Essential Public Health Services as a framework for planning, managing, and evaluating Tribal drinking water programs
- Identify the benefits of a comprehensive approach to managing Tribal drinking water programs
- Demonstrate proficiency of quality improvement tools for environmental health programming
Interested participants should provide their name, title, and affiliation to Vanessa Lamers at [email protected] or 202-218-4412 by February 15, 2017.