ATSDR - Division of Health Education and Promotion

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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Health Education and Promotion

Elizabeth (Libby) H. Howze, ScD, CHES, Director

The primary task of the Division of Health Education and Promotion (DHEP) is to implement all educational programs related to Superfund sites. DHEP staff have targeted specific audiences to focus their educational programs to produce the greatest impact in improving the health status of persons who may have been adversely affected by hazardous substances from Superfund sites. These audiences include national, state, and local medical associations; academic medical centers; medical schools; and schools of public health.

One of the most successful applied approaches to educating the medical professional is the development and use of the Case Studies in Environmental Medicine (CSEM.) The CSEM is a series of self-instructional publications designed to increase the primary care provider's knowledge of hazardous substances in the environment and to aid in the evaluation of potentially exposed patients. Continuing medical education credits units, continuing nursing education units, and continuing education units are offered by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in support of this series.

ATSDR, through the DHEP cooperative agreement assistance program, sponsors state environmental health education activities through state health departments. The objectives of this program are to: 1) develop and present programs and short courses to health professionals to enable them to diagnose and treat illness in persons exposed to hazardous substances, 2) make health professionals aware of the hazardous waste sites in their community and the health effects of the substances found at the sites, 3) prepare materials and identify resources for health professionals about the health effects of hazardous substances, and 4) build expertise in the state about hazardous waste sites, hazardous substances, and the communities potentially exposed. Future activities will target health professionals practicing near NPL sites.

This page last updated on March 12, 2002

Contact Name: Wilma López/ wbl8@cdc.gov