The """"""""Community Engagement in Workplace &Community Environmental Health Research: A Workshop for Young Professionals"""""""" conference will be a 1 1/2 day workshop to identify ways to effectively involve workers, worker advocates and community representatives in exploratory research projects to improve environmental conditions in the workplace and community. The workshop will kick off activities for the 10th anniversary of the Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) culminating in: 1) presentations at the 2013 American Public Health Association conference in Boston and 2) an article in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy that highlights the importance of integrating work into environmental and public health interventions and of recruiting a diverse group of young people into the field. The workshop, and OHIP overall, are consistent with themes that emerged in NIEHS stakeholder meetings to develop a 5-year strategic plan;specifically, the importance of collaborative and integrative approaches to research;of addressing health disparities;of training a workforce in environmental sciences;and of communication, outreach and community engagement. This proposal supports the following NIEHS strategic goals: Six (health disparities) and Eight (environmental health sciences education), Nine (workforce development and diversity) and Eleven (communication and collaboration). www.niehs.nih.gov/about/boards/naehsc/agenda/may2012/niehs_strategic_plan.pdf. The workshop will be hosted by the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH), an awardee of the NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program (WETP), and will be held in conjunction with the national orientation of the Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) scheduled for June 2013 in Los Angeles. Participants will include a diverse group of 25 interns who will be based in the community at 8-9 sites throughout the country in summer 2013 as well as an additional 20-25 former interns, community, environmental justice and worker advocates, university researchers, and government agency representatives. Upon completing the workshop, OHIP interns will be able to: 1. Explain the value of involving workers and community members in environmental and occupational programs to protect vulnerable groups. 2. Apply effective community-based research and education approaches to efforts to control workplace/environmental exposures among diverse populations. 3. Describe the links between workplace and environmental exposures. 4. Identify opportunities to further develop occupational and environmental health research skills and pursue career options after the internship program.
UCLA-LOSH proposes a 1 1/2 day workshop on Community Engagement in Workplace &Community Environmental Health Research in June 2013. This conference will bring together a diverse group of interns, community, labor and environmental justice advocates, university researchers and government agency representatives to address public health issues.
