Community Outreach and Engagement Core

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Abstract The goal of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) is to enhance the environmental health literacy of public health professionals, community health workers and vulnerable populations, increasing their understanding of emergent environmental health sciences research and empowering them to make informed decisions to reduce harmful environmental exposures in homes and communities. We accomplish this goal through the following aims: 1) Foster dialogue among UNC-CEHS members and community partners about environmental health sciences research activity and community concerns to inform development of responsive research and community solutions; 2) Enhance the capacity of public health practitioners and community health educators to engage vulnerable populations and other clients on locally relevant environmental health issues using a train-the-trainer approach; and 3) Broaden access to environmental health education materials through development and evaluation of online educational tools. The COEC is a vital to the UNC-CEHS theme, implementing the ultimate translation to North Carolina communities. The diversity of COEC activities across all UNC-CEHS Translational Research focus areas ensures a broad reach for UNC-CEHS across the State as well as connectivity among our scientists and community partners. The multidirectional communication that is the foundation of the COEC's work is critical to meeting the translational goals of UNC-CEHS.