Spanish 
Chinese 
Russian 
German 
French 
Japanese 
Portuguese 
Hindi Research Article
Environmental Health Education for Teachers: Results of Pre- and Post-surveys from a Pilot Study Addressing Chemical Use Reduction and Integrated Pest Management in Homes
Alesia Ferguson1*, Ilias Kavouras1, Robert Ulmer2, Keith Harris3, Helm Rebecca1 and Zoran Bursac4
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fay W Boozman College of Public Health, Little Rock, AR, USA
2Department of Urban Affairs, College of Professional Studies, University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, USA
3Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Center, College of Education, Little Rock, AR, USA
4Department of Biostatistics, Fay W Boozman College of Public Health, Little Rock, AR, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Alesia Ferguson
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
Slot #820 Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
Little Rock, AR 72205
Tel: 501-526-6662
E-mail: aferguson@uams.edu
Received date October 04, 2014; Accepted date November 27, 2014; Published date November 29, 2014
Citation: Ferguson A, Kavouras I, Ulmer R, Harris K, Rebecca H, et al. (2014) Environmental Health Education for Teachers: Results of Pre- and Post-surveys from a Pilot Study Addressing Chemical Use Reduction and Integrated Pest Management in Homes. J Community Med Health Educ 4:318. doi: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000318
Copyright: © 2014 Ferguson A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Science teachers from multiple K-12 schools (i.e., kindergarten-high school) were engaged in a two-day training addressing the key topics of integrated pest management practices and chemical use reduction. This training was provided to introduce teachers to these essential aspects of promoting a healthier home and a reduction in associated adverse health outcomes. Indoor exposures are of particular importance for the elderly and very young who spend the majority of their time at home. Early childhood education related to the proactive and intimate role humans play in shaping the health of their home is seen as important for sustainable and effective public health and community health actions. Innovatively, the training used newer formats of engagement called Liberating Structures (LS) to engage and excite teachers on these environmental health topics. This paper describes the environmental health knowledge of those thirty-five teachers through pre- and post-surveys delivered during the training to assess their ability and willingness to transfer this knowledge into the classroom. Also explored are curriculum areas for integration of these environmental and public health topics.
