JANUARY 2003 | Volume 1, Number 4

Promoting the Environmental Justice & Health Union mission, Catalyst identifies training, research, policies, events, and funding opportunities that foster partnerships to eliminate environmental disease in poor minority communities within the United States. To do that, Catalyst depends on information submitted by an advisory board of environmental health professionals and environmental justice activists as well as our readers.

TOOLBOX

Community-based participatory research
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has published the proceedings from a conference in 2000 focused on community-based participatory research methodology and uses of community-based participatory research. The environmental health and environmental justice participants discussed a range of partnerships used to identify and remedy environmental disease in at-risk communities.

Community outreach and education program (COEP) resource centers
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences funds twenty-seven universities to conduct community education related to environmental health and develop outreach efforts specifically designed to address environmental health problems of greatest concern to the community. The COEPs are supposed to focus on populations most susceptible to environmental insults (e.g., environmental justice communities).

50 years ago...

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America is founded.

ADVISORY BOARD

Lynn Battle
Executive Director, Citizen's Lead Education & Poisoning Prevention (Birmingham, AL)

Michael Green
Executive Director, Center for Environmental Health (Oakland, CA)

Swati Prakash
Environmental Health Director, West Harlem Environmental Action (New York, NY)

Alejandra Tres
Executive Director, Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (Portland, OR)

The Next Step...

Community health centers are often the primary care providers in communities at great risk for environmental disease. The patients they serve are often uninsured or covered by Medicaid. The more than 3,000 community health centers nationwide serve 11 million people. President Bush seeks to create 1,200 more community health centers, serving 4 million more people, within the next five years. However, as the number of community health centers increases during these difficult economic times, the resources to serve each patient diminishes.

This trend poses a particular challenge to those who seek to eliminate disparities in environmental disease. Only 20% of children insured by Medicaid are properly screened for lead poisoning (despite Medicaid language that requires universal screening). Thus, more than 350,000 Medicaid children with elevated blood lead levels are not identified each year. Recent Medicaid cost-cutting efforts, such as requiring state authorization prior to providing physician-recommended asthma medication, delay vital treatment for community health center patients and, in many cases, funding for proper asthma treatment is absent. Lead screening and asthma treatment are even more difficult for uninsured patients to receive than Medicaid patients. Environmental justice activists and environmental health professionals will need to work together to ensure that as reliance by Medicaid and uninsured patients on community health centers in your area increases, environmental healthcare remains a cornerstone of disease prevention and elimination.

PARTNERSHIPS

PACE-EH in Portland
The Environmental Justice Action Group, Portland State University, and Multnomah County Health Department have partnered to perform one of the initial field tests for PACE-EH (Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health), a methodology developed by the National Association of City and County Health Officials to determine community environmental health needs. PACE-EH is available free to local health departments.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Asthma update
State asthma laws have been compiled by that National Conference of State Legislatures. Reports presented at the National Asthma Conference on current local and federal efforts to eliminate asthma are now available.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Networks
Two environmental justice networks have been formed in the western United States within the past three years. The Northwest Environmental Justice Alliance includes groups in Oregon and Washington while the Central California Environmental Justice Network consists of groups in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Movement writings
The University of California Berkeley workshop on environmental politics has produced a bibliographic review of the environmental justice literature from 1996 - 2002 that includes information on environmental justice theory, research, and activism.

DISPARITIES

Disparity projects database
A database of local efforts to address race and class disparities in disease has been initiated by the National Association of City and County Health Officials. The database can be searched by state and by environmental health issue. Projects focused on addressing disparities can be added to the database.

CLOSING DATES

January 7
Leadership for a changing world
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January 14
Partnerships for communication
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January 15
Cox Charitable Trust - New England
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January 15
Common Counsel Foundation
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January 20
Community involvement conference proposals
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January 31
Community Intern
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February 1
Community-partnered interventions to reduce health disparities
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February 28
Community toolbox for children's environmental health
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EVENTS CALENDAR

January 7-8, San Antonio TX
Voices of Diversity in Environment and Health
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January 9-10, Pittsburgh PA
Disparities and community-based participatory research
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January 16, Chelsea MA
Environmental justice training
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January 17, New Orleans LA
Lead poisoning prevention in Louisiana
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January 19 - 20, New Haven CT
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy of environmental and social justice
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January 23 - 24, Las Vegas NV
Protocol for assessing community excellence in environmental health (PACE - EH)
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January 31, Fresno CA
Health disparities in San Joaquin Valley
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February 4, Harrisburg PA
State of PA environmental justice advisory board
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February 10 - 11, Bethesda MD
National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council
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Feb 24 - 26, Bethesda MD
Children's Environmental Health
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SUBSCRIBE and PROVIDE

The Catalyst is an online newsletter sent monthly to Environmental Justice & Health Union members. Groups with annual budgets of less than $200,000 receive free EJHU membership. The EJHU website (www.ejhu.org) includes information for activists and professionals about training, research, and policies, EJHU membership, and past issues of Catalyst.

If you want to provide information to be considered for inclusion in Catalyst, include a contact name, website, and e-mail address. Please forward the information to ejhu@ejhu.org or the following address: Max Weintraub, Executive Director Environmental Justice & Health Union 528 61st Street, Suite A Oakland, CA 94609