A Story of Health Wins CDC Communications Award
The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) have honored A Story of Health multimedia eBook/continuing education course with the ”Excellence in communications” award. NCEH and ATSDR are agencies of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The award was given at the annual NCEH/ATSDR Honor Awards on February 3, 2015 to the Story of Health team for excellence in communication for the development of a medical education product that highlights the importance of environmental health. These awards are given annually to recognize excellence in product development and employee performance. The eBook was designed to harness the power of storytelling to improve environmental health literacy for health professionals, policy makers and health advocates. It was developed by a team from ATSDR, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California EPA (OEHHA), the Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN), and the Western States Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU). CIRCLE Core Leader, Mark Miller, was a primary author and developer of the eBook. CIRCLE investigator, Vickie Leonard was also a contributing author. Other CIRCLE investigators provided content — including informational videos — which was featured in eBook. The first installment of the eBook, with chapters on asthma, developmental disabilities and childhood leukemia, is available to download for free on the WSPEHSU web site. Health professionals can register for free continuing education credits (CE) through the CDC. A fourth story on infertility and reproductive health is in development. The eBook has been downloaded by over 3000, with over 2400 CE registrations. Feedback from CE registrants has been overwhelmingly positive.