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. 2017 Apr;125(4):495-501.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.1409337. Epub 2015 Jun 30.

The Emergence of Environmental Health Literacy-From Its Roots to Its Future Potential

Symma Finn  1 , Liam O'Fallon
Affiliations

The Emergence of Environmental Health Literacy-From Its Roots to Its Future Potential

Symma Finn et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Environmental health literacy (EHL) is coalescing into a new subdiscipline that combines key principles and procedural elements from the fields of risk communication, health literacy, environmental health sciences (EHS), communications research, and safety culture. These disciplines have contributed unique expertise and perspectives to the development of EHL. Since 1992, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has contributed to the evolution of EHL and now seeks to stimulate its scientific advancement and rigor.

Objectives: The principal objective of this article is to stimulate a conversation on, and advance research in, EHL.

Discussion: In this article, we propose a definition of and conceptual framework for EHL, describe EHL in its social and historical context, identify the complementary fields and domains where EHL is being defined and implemented, and outline a research agenda. Extensive reviews of web and literature searches indicate that the concept of EHL is evolving rapidly, as are the definitions of its scope and inquiry. Although several authors have outlined different frameworks, we believe that a more nuanced model based on Bloom's taxonomy is better suited to EHL and to future research in this area.

Conclusions: We posit that EHL can potentially benefit the conduct and outcomes of community-engaged and health disparities EHS research and can ensure that the translation of research findings will lead to greater understanding of specific risks, reduction of exposures, and improvement of health outcomes for individuals and communities. We provide four recommendations to advance work in EHL.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The cultural context: streams leading to the coalescence of environmental health literacy.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Conceptual model of environmental health literacy adapted from Bloom (1956), representing the potential for different levels of EHL across various environmental health science topics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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