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Development of an Environmental Stewardship Distance Learning Web Site
Executive Summary
Urban populations include a large number of individuals at-risk of chronic pest infestations as well as over- and mis-use of pesticides and pesticide poisonings. At-risk populations include low-income children, pregnant women and elderly as well as asthmatics of all ages. However, there are virtually no coordinated mechanisms in place for reaching these diverse populations with messages of safer, more effective pest control practices (IPM), or proper pesticide choices, uses, storage and disposal.
We propose to engage the vast health education, advocacy and outreach network in place in Philadelphia to create a model partnership for transmitting pesticide safety and IPM messages to urban at-risk populations via health educators. Hospitals, city health agencies, school health and asthma prevention programs have access to target populations. Many of these home and school interventionists are already trusted for their advice and many are already trained in technical issues. However, health educator training and client information specific to pest and pesticide issues is limited or non-existent.
This project will reach out to these health educators and, in partnership, develop train-the-trainer education modules and client outreach protocols for pesticide safety and basic IPM literacy. Training modules will focus on pests and pesticide incidences documented by Poison Control Center data on actual poisonings of children under 5 years old in Philadelphia. The bulk of these poisonings are insecticides traditionally used against roaches, fleas, and ants; pelleted rodenticide baits, misuses of mothballs and other off-label or illegal behavior.
Providing training and materials to these well-established health networks will assure sustainability of the IPM and pesticide safety messages in inner-city Philadelphia and will reach an estimated 5,000 at-risk individuals/yr. This approach will serve as a model to other IPM and pesticide educators wishing to serve city populations in the region and nation.