The National Center for Environmental Health partnered with the National Association of County and City Health Officers to develop a Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE-EH), a community involvement tool to guide local health officials in conducting community-based environmental health assessments.
PACE EH helps brings communities and local agencies together to identify and solve environmental health issues using a specific methodology, and has resulted in significant improvements within communities that utilized PACE-EH.Â
Pace-EH in Indian River County
Florida Department of Health in Indian River County (DOH-Indian River) has consistently strived to implement PACE-EH in neighborhoods and communities such as West Wabasso, Fellsmere, and Gifford.
To date, over $8 million in community identified improvements have been realized due to the partnerships and action plans that resulted. When community members were surveyed after implementation interventions, they felt the community was healthier and safer, and their quality of life had improved.
By working directly with residents to empower them to solve community issues, PACE-EH in Indian River has become a national model for its success. DOH-Indian River remains committed to ensuring community health is a priority and has institutionalized PACE EH into its normal operations due to the positive impact it has had on our communities.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tool for Community Environmental Health Assessment publication highlights some of the efforts using PACE-EH in Wabasso to improve infrastructure and safety within the community, designed to help improve health outcomes.