My first example of a practice lab comes from the course MPH 613: Environmental, Society, & Health. This course heavily focused on the various environmental impacts to our health as well as our society as a whole. To put the information we obtained during this course into prospective, we conducted a practice lab. The title of this assigned practice lab is HappyTown, USA. A brief prompt was given to students illustrating the various qualities of a community called Happytown. Within this prompt, students were challenged to discover an environmental hazard to then report on the hazard disclosing its effects and impact in the community.

Key study questions in the practice lab were as follows:

• What environmental hazard is at hand?
• Who does the hazard impact?
• What is the source of the hazard?
• What are the resolutions / recommendations to either mitigate or eliminate the hazard?

Methods & Findings

In the Happytown practice lab, there was a persistent concern of lead poisoning within the community’s traditions and lifestyles. Based on the information I was given regarding the town, I was able to analyze what the potential sources of lead could be. My method of analysis brought me to multiple findings of lead poisoning within the community. Those findings include the multiple items present within the community that have high lead percentages including a multitude of sold kids toys. This community also unknowingly participates in various cultural practices that contain lead. Recognizing this issue and connecting it with the community activities allowed me to better understand how easily an environmental hazard can be introduced into the population and severely impact health.

Recommendations & Public Health Significance

Detailed in the lab, the recommendations I gave focused on more education for the community. The purpose of education is to understand how to find the presence of lead in commonly used products as well as knowing the impacts of it. Educating the community on how lead impacts children was also a recommendation as many are unaware of the life-threatening effects the substance has on children. I also recommended the promotion of effective communication as the community can connect on a higher level to ultimately expand on alternative cultural activities that are safer. This lab represents public health significance as it illustrates how to not only analyze a communities actions but also connect those actions to resulting health outcomes. Making this connection allows for health professionals to identify the problem to then initiate a strategy to improve or resolve the problem.

Happytown-Practice-Lab-Assignment