Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Public Health (PACE EH)

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. 

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.

Wabasso Corridor Plan 2017 - Community in Action

In addition to improving the infrastructure and safety within Wabasso, another example of successful collaborative efforts between the community and many county agencies resulted in the Wabasso Corridor Plan 2017.

Faced with the prospect of increasing growth and development, the Wabasso community took the initiative to control development in the area. Realizing that development and redevelopment occurring within the Wabasso area in the near future would affect the community for generations, the residents, property owners, and business owners prepared this corridor plan with the overall purpose being to provide a set of standards applicable to development and redevelopment in the corridor area.

Great things can be accomplished when communities, local government and businesses all come together with a shared vision.

Help Assess Walkability in Indian River County

Using PACE EH methodology, DOH-Indian River, in partnership with the Environmental Learning Center, created a community-wide survey to assess walkability to help determine the gaps and steps to plan for remediation of the highest priority areas identified. This collaboration is a product of the Community Health Improvement Plan, which brings together community partners to address the greatest health concerns facing our community.

One such concern is the epidemic of obesity and overweight, and the chronic diseases that stem from this growing problem. Increasing physical activity is one of the most important actions people can take to achieve a healthy weight and improve overall health. Often times, however, people find it difficult to maintain a minimum level of physical activity because many communities are not designed around pedestrians; in other words, they are not “walkable,” so residents find little opportunity to increase their activity levels.

This walkability survey will help the DOH-Indian River identify barriers to walking and physical activity throughout the county. The results of the survey can be used to craft new policies and recommendations with walkability as a priority.

PACE EH Resources

• Florida Department of Health, PACE EH
• Florida Dpeartment of Health in Lee County, PACE EH
• Environmental Health Assessments and Tools
• Community Health and Development Checklist