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Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit

                 Endorsed by:
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TOOLKIT NEWS


PSR has been awarded a one year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to launch the Safe and Healthy Children Initiative; a pilot project based on the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit (PEHT) which will address pediatric environmental health in migrant and seasonal farmworker children.

The initiative has three main goals: 

1. To address the health disparity and environmental injustice faced by children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers by implementing an education and prevention program intended to reduce exposure to chemicals and environmental hazards that can lead to the development of conditions including learning and developmental disabilities, cancer, asthma, allergies and other respiratory illnesses.

2. To build on the knowledge, awareness and ability of clinicians, outreach workers, and teachers to better identify environmental threats to children's health and to employ strategies to reduce exposures including providing tools and resources for parents to help them take steps to protect their families from environmental hazards.

3. To mobilize physicians and other health professionals to advocate for environmental policies that decrease children's exposures to environmental pollutants and toxic chemicals.

Together with partner organizations, Academy for Educational Development and Health Outreach Partners, PSR will provide training on the unique vulnerability of children, exposures to environmental hazards, and prevention strategies to those uniquely positioned to protect children's health including physicians, outreach workers and community health promoters, family case workers, and early education teachers.

The initiative will be piloted in Florida and in Michigan but with Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs in 38 states we envision this as a long term project.


Ordering the Toolkit

The Toolkits are on back order; we expect to receive a new shipment in August.  You may continue to place your order and we will fill it as soon as we can.  In the meantime you are welcome to take advantage of the download option. 

The Toolkit continues to be a sought after resource, we have disseminated 6000 Toolkits over the past 2 years.

Toolkits are being used in places such as (just to name a few):

Pediatric Residency Programs
State and County Health Departments
YMCAs
Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health
Community Health Center
Daycare Centers
Private Practice and Hospitals across the country

New! Free online Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit CE course - 1.5 credit hours - Go here to take the course.

What is the Toolkit?

The Toolkit is a combination of easy-to-use reference guides for health providers and user friendly health education materials on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that affect infant and child health. The materials are visually appealing, practical and easy to use. The Toolkit is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The Toolkit fills the need for environmental health education and information. The Greater Boston (GBPSR) and San Francisco Bay Area chapters of Physicians for Social Responsibility, in partnership with the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at the University of California, San Francisco, and a team of pediatricians from around the country, developed the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit. 

Downloading Toolkit Materials

Click on the links below to download the Toolkit materials. But before doing so, please read the Users Guide first, which explains the Toolkit materials and proposed use in greater detail. Click here to download Adobe Reader.

For Providers:

  • Provider Desk Reference Card -- A two-sided, laminated reference card that allows providers to quickly reference environmental toxicants, their health effects, routes of exposure, and exposure prevention strategies. It was adapted from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Pediatric Environmental Health handbook. This document can be printed on an office printer using the landscape format and “reduced to fit page” setting. It will print in 6, 8.5 x 11 pages.  To print one 12 x 18 page click here.
  • Anticipatory Guidance Pocket Card -- A two-sided, laminated reference card that fits in a large pocket for handy use during a well child visit. The topics on the pocket card are both developmentally appropriate and take advantage of “teachable moments.”  For example, at a newborn visit, the provider will naturally discuss infant feeding. Exchanging mercury thermometers for safer digital ones is another easy step that a provider can mention at an early visit. These flexible guidance points provide clinicians with an age appropriate menu of choices to discuss during routine visits.
  • Posters -- Two colorful posters in English and Spanish for clinic and exam rooms that highlight environmental health issues in a child’s indoor and outdoor environments.
  • Key Concepts in Pediatric Environmental Health -- This background document provides information on a number of topics, including children’s unique vulnerabilities to toxic substances, high risk communities, the “built environment,” right-to-know issues and many more. This document is set up to be printed out on a home computer on standard 8.5 x 11 paper in 4 pages. To print 11 x 17 click here.

Toolkit Training Program for Health Care Providers

The Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit Training uses various case examples to highlight the relationship between environmental exposures and children’s health, and clinical use of the Toolkit. Upon completion the learner will be able to:

  • Identify routes of exposure to common toxic chemicals and substances including mercury, lead, arsenic, solvents, pesticides, and persistent organic compounds such as PCBs;
  • Recognize links between these toxic chemicals and health effects;
  • Provide anticipatory guidance keyed to well-child visits;
  • Enhance patient communications on environmental health issues;
  • Discuss the unique vulnerabilities of children, the “built” and “food” environments, and other important issues;
  • Use the Pediatric Toolkit in the busy practice setting.

View or download the Powerpoint Training Program document

For Patients and Their Families:

  • “Rx for Prevention” Prescription Slips -- (English and Spanish) Each “Rx” slip, keyed to four developmental stages, contains two to four high priority “tips on prevention” for parents, such as how to avoid mercury in fish or protect children from solvents and pesticides. The provider can give the slips to a family as if prescribing a medication. The Rx pads are set to print 4 to a page and then can be cut down to size.
  • Magnets with “Tips for Prevention” -- (English and Spanish) These  downloadable magnet files, with six brief prevention tips have been designed so that they can be printed on label paper and used as stickers. (Patients can use the magnets to post the “Rx for Prevention” slips on their refrigerators.)

 Further Resources

For questions please contact Marybeth Palmigiano, MPH, mpalmigiano@psr.org or 978-376-9985.