Understanding the underlying causes of environmental health disparities and reducing the environmental impacts on the health of the communities who are most affected is fundamental to NIEHS’ goal of enhancing environmental justice and health equity for all people.
Health disparities are differences in health status in individuals and communities that arise from a combination of factors related to social, economic, and environmental disadvantages. Exposure of communities to multiple environmental stressors over time increases the risks for environmental health disparities. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, nationality, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Health equity is the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health. Concepts of health disparities, environmental justice, and health equity must be understood in the full context of the exposome framework, including social and other determinants of health, such as housing, diet, sleep, and exercise. NIEHS emphasizes a community-engaged research approach as part of its efforts to ensure that research findings are useful and actionable in improving the lives of people in communities affected by environmental disadvantages. NIEHS seeks opportunities to work toward understanding the biological and non-biological factors that drive disparities in environmental health impacts and enable the most effective and applicable research investments. NIEHS will harness both the approaches outlined in other sections of this plan and those listed below to advance this area of environmental health science and public health.
Translational Goal
Prioritize research to understand and address environmental health disparities and enable full application of the knowledge gained to achieving environmental justice and health equity.
Priority Approaches
- Emphasize recruitment of diverse study populations in diverse community settings.
- Employ community-engaged and community-based participatory research approaches.
- Conduct research and disseminate findings to inform the creation and implementation of effective,evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention strategies.
- Expand disaster research to assist communities in understanding and addressing exposures from naturaland human-caused disasters.
- Utilize social sciences research, including health behavior, public policy, law, and economics, to informtranslation of environmental health science into interventions.
