Partnering to Reduce Environmental Hazards Through a Community-Based "Healthy Home Museum":Education for Action

Abstract

Home environmental hazards can pose health threats, particularly to low-income children living in substandard housing. National agencies urge integrated treatment of such hazards; locally, however, home hazard reduction is often managed issue-by-issue. Helping diverse local groups understand the sources, health impacts, and solutions to home hazards is a critical first step toward action. Rochester's Healthy Home was a hands-on museum operated by a community-university partnership from 2006-2009 with the goal of supporting community members' and groups' efforts to address key environmental health hazards in high-risk housing. A secondary goal was to build connections between interest groups, government, and academic stakeholders to advance systems changes in support of environmental justice. Rochester's Healthy Home educated nearly 3,500 visitors about reducing home environmental hazards, served as a focal point for community action, and integrated over 30 local groups into the Healthy Home Partnership, which continues to meet regularly. Over 75% of visitors reported taking an action to improve their home's health following their visit. This hands-on and action-oriented training model generated attention and interest in replication in other cities. This collaboration showed that a collaboratively operated, interactive "healthy home museum" can build residents' capacity to reduce home health hazards while changing local policies and practices to sustainably promote healthier homes.