Healthy Homes Initiative
What is the Healthy Homes Initiative?
The goal of the MSU Extension Healthy Homes Initiative is to equip Mississippians with the knowledge they need to keep their indoor environments safe and healthy. HHI is part of MSU Extension's Family and Consumer Sciences program, the goal of which is to improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities in Mississippi.
What does the Healthy Homes Initiative offer?
Tailored to meet your residential needs, the Healthy Home Solutions is a 12-topic curriculum, developed by and for Extension educators. The topics can be presented individually or as a series, and they are adaptable to fit a range of timeframes. Topic titles are:
- Healthy Homes Overview
- Indoor Air Quality Overview
- Radon
- Asthma & Allergies
- Mold & Moisture Control
- Carbon Monoxide & Other Combustion Gases
- Lead
- Drinking Water
- Home Safety
- Hazardous Household Products
- Integrated Pest Management
- Home Energy
Who might benefit from the Healthy Homes training?
- Families
- Childcare providers
- Environmental health practitioners
- Public health nurses
- Housing professionals
- Community outreach workers
- Tribal environmental health officials
- Leaders of community-based organizations
Currently available programs:
Project FIND Focusing on Important Necessities in Your Dwelling (UGA Extension)
Project Find Intranet
This program is offered through UGA Extension. The program helps identify key areas to improve the health and safety of your home through decluttering. This program consists of a PowerPoint, quiz, and action plan.
Right-Sizing: Dealing with Sentimental Clutter (UGA Extension & MSU Extension) Multi-State Programming
This program addresses how to deal with letting go of sentimental clutter. With the material clients will learn how to define the difference between sentimental clutter and regular clutter, develop an action plan on how to remove the clutter, and ultimately how to get rid of sentimental clutter.
12 modules can be presented individually or as a series. The topics are: Healthy Homes Overview, Indoor Air Quality Overview, Radon, Asthma & Allergies, Mold & Moisture Control, Carbon Monoxide & Other Combustion Gases, Lead, Drinking Water, Home Safety, Hazardous Household Products, Integrated Pest Management, and Home Energy. The lesson modules can be offered in as little as 30 minutes or up to 1 ½ hours. Depending on your audience you can make them shorter or longer. Each module consists of a PowerPoint, lesson plan, and pre/post test.
Creating Healthy Indoor Childcare Environments
Eight modules tailored to meet the needs of childcare providers. The topics are: Eight Principles of Healthy Indoor Environments, Asthma & Allergies, Hazardous Products, Indoor Air Quality, Integrated Pest Management, Lead Poisoning Prevention, Mold & Moisture Control, and Safety and Accessibility. The modules are approved by the MSDH for required contact hours. This program can be offered face-to-face or through our Creating Healthy Indoor Childcare Environments Canvas Course.
Looking for more advanced training for professionals?
Click this link to check out our partners in the Extension Center for Continuing Education who more than 20 different asbestos, lead, and mold removal classes designed for contractors, home inspectors, painters, and others.
Publications
News
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Healthy lifestyles and healthy homes may seem like two separate concepts, but both components are important for overall well-being. David Buys, health specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, encourages people to consider giving their homes a checkup in the new year.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A water sampling program conducted by the Mississippi State University Extension Service has encouraging initial data about lead levels in drinking water collected at child care centers around the state.
Preliminary data gathered as part of the SipSafe program paint a reassuring picture for most of the faucets sampled.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Over-the-counter medications and supplements seem safer than prescription drugs, but a dramatic rise in pediatric melatonin overdoses serves as a warning that these products can be dangerous and must be stored safely.
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 530% increase in melatonin overdose in children from 2012 to 2020. Most of these ingestions were unintentional and occurred among children 5 or younger in their homes.
Private well workshops in four counties this spring will help homeowners improve their drinking water sources.
Keep stored-food pests, such as moths, beetles and meal worms, out of products they infest by storing them in airtight glass or plastic containers.
We’ve experienced some spring-like weather, and that may have you thinking about refreshing some areas of your home. When you’re doing your spring cleaning, don’t overlook the kitchen pantry where stored-food pests can thrive.
Success Stories
Extension Brown Bags flying off shelves in DeSoto County
Mississippi State University Extension agents in DeSoto County are partnering with public librarians throughout the county to distribute Extension Brown Bags to members of the community. Extension has offered a range of educational programs at these libraries, so joining with them to expand the giveaways was a natural choice.
Extension program helps childcare employees
When the mailer arrived at Barbara Henson’s Nursery and Pre-K to invite the staff to participate in the Healthy Homes Initiative, director Beverly Henson admits she felt a twinge of surprise—and skepticism.
He is already good at what he does as maintenance supervisor with the Canton Housing Authority, but Russell Carroll wants to be even better.
Anytime he gets a chance to participate in a training program, he takes it. Russell Carroll cares about sharing the best practices—and implementing them—to benefit the tenants on his watch.
