The UMDNJ-School of Public Health, through the Community Outreach and Education Program (COEP) at the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Center of Excellence at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), proposes to conduct the HOPE Partnership (Health Observances and Public Education), a five-year Phase I and II Development and Dissemination project. This program will help to improve public understanding of the biomedical and health-related sciences and the impact of research on human health, while determining the most effective outreach methods to achieve this goal. UMDNJ will direct this project in collaboration with seven COEPs based at Oregon State University, University of Arizona, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Southern California, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Vanderbilt University. These COEPs have demonstrated their ability to collaborate to increase public understanding of the biomedical and health-related sciences through the SEPA project, entitled EH-STEP, supported through August 31, 2003. These diverse partners will ensure that the project is translatable nationwide. A public health science education model will be developed, implemented and evaluated. The model comprises six components: health observances, needs assessment, action mechanisms, public health science education materials, scientist involvement and program evaluation. Program components will capitalize on three established national health observances (Cancer Control Month, Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month and Lead Poisoning Prevention Week) to impact the target audiences (students, teacher, general public). A needs assessment will document the target audiences' perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of biomedical and health-related sciences. Utilizing the diverse experiences and expertise of this established network of NIEHS Centers and the needs assessment, the Health Observances & Public Education (HOPE) Partnership will develop public health science education materials that will be disseminated through action mechanisms: community forums, formal education, informal education, media, non-profit organizations and science centers/museums. Scientists will be involved throughout the initiative including the development of materials and the implementation of the action mechanisms. Formative and summative measures will be used to analyze all aspects, including overall project effectiveness.
