Welcome to this course on Mold and Moisture: Guidance for
Clinicians.
Patients present to primary care services with symptoms and health concerns that require consideration of environmental factors. In some cases, patients’ exposure to mold and moisture in their homes, offices, schools, and workplaces may be having a significant effect. This
course includes guidance designed to help the healthcare provider address patients with illnesses related to mold in the indoor environment by providing background understanding of how mold may be affecting patients. With an appreciation of the time pressures in the clinical medical setting today, the
course describes “tools” to help the provider evaluate the patient and help the practitioner explore environmental relationships to illness.
Course Overview:
EARN UP TO 6 CMEs for FREE!!!
Release Date: December 28, 2009;
Expiration Date: December 28, 2012
Each segment of the course is designed to give the participant information on how to consider the environmental contributors
to illness, when treating individuals or addressing situations with concerns over mold and moisture exposure.
We have divided the course material into two segments.
Each should take a maximum of three hours to
complete.
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“Mold Basics and Health Effects from Exposure to Mold and Moisture Indoors” addresses mold ecology and identifies illnesses of concern.
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“An Approach to Clinical Care and Utilizing Environmental Information”- provides the participant with detailed guidance to identify and treat illnesses where mold and moisture in the indoor environments are significant contributors to disease.
Although we recommend that participants take the complete course for a comprehensive understanding of the issue, one may select either segment.
Each segment includes video presentations, an
interactive case discussion based on experience at
the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic
at the UConn Health Center and a short question set.
In addition each segment begins with one or two case
situation(s) that we ask you to initially consider
and then reconsider given the course material at the
end of the program segment. Course materials include
tools for patient documentation and identification
of appropriate resources for patients and the
practitioner.
This program
uses Microsoft Silverlight to view the multimedia modules. You
will need to download this
(click here) in order to watch and participate.
Target Audience:
Public health and environmental professionals will acquire information to aid them in assessing risk and exploring and remediating environments. They will also become acquainted with fungal ecology, building science and available resources.
Health providers will
learn how to assess symptoms and illnesses that may have
environmental components and learn how to use technical data and
reports to evaluate their patients’ possible exposure to
moisture and mold.
The University of Connecticut School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Connecticut School
of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum
of 6 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
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Course Modules
Learning Objectives:
Mold Basics and Health Effects from Exposure to Mold and Moisture Indoors
Course participants will:
- describe the basic ecology and characteristics of fungi that could affect human health
- develop skills to make informed decisions on the need for environmental intervention based on current information on health effects and exposure to mold and moisture
Click here to view an outline of the course content.
An Approach to Clinical Care and Utilizing Environmental Information
Course participants will:
- describe how to explore and document patients’ indoor exposures to mold and moisture
- evaluate the role of qualitative observations in environmental assessment for mold and moisture versus the appropriate use of measurements
- describe how to guide patients/public to resources that they can use to reduce moisture and mold in their homes and other indoor environments
Click here to view an outline of the course content.
Resources
Materials
needed for the course,
and additional helpful resources.
More information >
Faculty and Acknowledgements
- Robert DeBernardo, MD, MBA, MPH
- Paula Schenck, MPH
- Eileen Storey, MD, MPH
- William A. Turner, MS, PE
The course was primarily developed by Paula Schenck, Robert DeBernardo, Eileen Storey and William A. Turner.
The faculty acknowledges with gratitude: Susan M. Conrath and Laura S. Kolb from
EPA’s Indoor Environments Division, De-Wei Li
from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, and
these individuals from the University of Connecticut Health Center - William P. Hengstenberg, Blagoje D. Filipovic, and Ronald T. Collins from the Biomedical Communications Department, Vera A. Dynder and Charles G. Huntington from the Office of Continuing and Community Education, Connie Cantor from the Center for Public Health and Health Policy and Nancy Simcox from the Center for Indoor Environments and Health - all who contributed their knowledge and time to the development of the program.
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