Breathing life into learning about air quality: developing and implementing environmental health outreach with high school students

The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is comprised of diverse populations that cumulatively are medically underserved and experience significant air pollution. The SJV regularly has poor air quality and does not meet the state and federal attainment standards for particulate matter (PM) 2.5, ozone (eight hours), and PM 10. Air pollutants contribute to a high incidence of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for conditions like asthma. Because air pollutants correlate with built environments, these outcomes are concentrated geographically, which is a major driver of social determinants of health. Librarians from an osteopathic medical school in the SJV developed an educational outreach session to inform high school students about the causes and health impacts of air pollution and how they can find resources to educate themselves and others in their communities. Two-hour interactive outreach sessions were provided at three local high schools in the SJV to students in health careers pathways. Librarians and student doctors guided high school students in health professions pathways through activities to understand the causes of poor air quality in the SJV; describe the different parts of the respiratory system and how air pollutants impact it; identify strategies for monitoring air quality and protecting their respiratory health; explore correlations between zip code and health outcomes; and access National Library of Medicine resources for reliable health information. Librarians can lead effective health outreach programming. High school students who participated in the outreach sessions increased their understanding of AQI, the causes of poor air quality, and the health effects of air pollution.