Health departments nationwide are not fully prepared to tackle local, climate change-related health needs. 

Climate change has been described as one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21^st century because it affects so many aspects of human health including chronic conditions, infectious disease, and mental health. While all Americans face climate change-related health risks, some -- due to where they live, their socio-economic status, and underlying health conditions -- are likely to feel the effects earlier and more severely than others.  Unfortunately, there are very few evergreen training opportunities that provide State, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) organizations with actionable steps they can take to improve climate-related health outcomes within their communities.

The CDC Foundation sought to identify data current gaps in environmental health services, practices and understanding of environmental-related needs as part of its formative work to create trainings and resources at the community, tribal, territorial and other governmental levels.  Their goal is to strengthen the role and ability for state, tribal and local environmental health programs and professionals to better anticipate, identify and respond to adverse environmental exposures and the consequences of these exposures on human health.

NORC conducted a rapid needs assessment of climate-related health resources and gaps.

The CDC Foundation contracted NORC to conduct a rapid needs assessment to identify existing climate and environmental health-related resources, gaps in STLT knowledge and skills, and which new trainings and materials could address these gaps. Our three-part assessment included:

• An environmental scan that sought publicly available climate and health resources specifically tailored to STLT organizations 
• In-depth interviews with eight STLT health department and the national Associations that represent them to better understand which resources select federal, state, and local organizations recommend or have used to help guide health departments on climate and health
• Social listening—monitoring online conversations and discussions to gain insights—to understand the extent to which climate and health information was being shared online and who was disseminating what information.