COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE (CEC) The Vision for the Community Engagement Core (CEC) is to serve as the information and communications axis for the Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health?s (GC-CPEH) stakeholders and target audiences, including our leadership, Center Members, community members and organizations, consumers of environmental public health information, and those engaged in policymaking related to environmental health. Our Mission is to facilitate translation of Center science, increase environmental health literacy, and build relationships that will lead to research responsive to our communities? needs. Our ultimate Goal is to improve community awareness and understanding of environmental health issues, while assisting researchers to understand those concerns of importance to the community and thus inform their scientific studies.
The Specific Aims of the Community Engagement Core are:
Specific Aim 1 : Translate and disseminate Center science to increase environmental public health awareness and understanding, and enhance the capacity of individuals and organizations to make informed environmental health and health policy decisions.
Specific Aim 2 : Pioneer new multi-directional communication strategies to engage community partners to inform Center directions and programs, identify environmental concerns, and establish avenues for disseminating relevant environmental health information to stakeholders. This involves collaborations between the CEC and community partners to develop and implement responsive programs to address both emergent and longstanding needs, including Disaster Research Response (DR2) activities and newly proposed Military Exposures and Health activities.
Specific Aim 3 : Advance the field of community engagement and environmental health communication by enhancing community-based participatory research (CBPR) use by Center investigators and rigorously evaluating engagement activities, processes, and outcomes and disseminating best practices at regional and national levels, including the NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH).
