The need for diversity in the environmental health workforce.

Epidemiologic evidence makes clear that the likelihood of exposure to environmental contaminants increases in most poor and underserved communities. Despite progress in reducing a number of environmental risk factors for disease, serious environmental problems persist, and those remaining problems are highly complex. Their solution requires meaningful community engagement as well as a diverse environmental health workforce.

Addressing health disparities and environmental justice: the National Library of Medicine's Environmental Health Information Outreach Program.

Purpose: Disparities in health between minority and majority populations have become a topic of high interest in the health care and information communities. This paper describes the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) oldest outreach program to a minority population, a project that has been going on for over fifteen years.

Setting/participants/resources: The overview is based on internal documentation and reports, interviews, personal communications, and project reports.