Fighting for Public Health: How Do We Strengthen Public Health Advocacy at Local, State, and National Levels?

Overview:

This is a recording of a live webinar on January 22, 2024. 

The politicization of widely accepted practices like vaccinations and the declaration of public health emergencies is directly impacting public health’s ability to protect and promote healthy communities. The decline in trust and investment in public health has raised the question:  How can we strengthen public health advocacy at local, state, and national levels? In a feasibility study conducted by the Network for Public Health Law, public health advocates and leaders from 45 organizations were asked this very question. Their responses provide a snapshot of the current state of public health and highlight opportunities to amplify the voice of public health and our partners in advocating for evidence-based policies and approaches.  Join us in this webinar to learn more about the findings from this study and the opportunities to work together to support the profession and practice of public health.  Participants will also learn how to build skills to better communicate public health to all in their community and the resources available to support this critical advocacy work.

After working in the fields of public health, evaluation & research, and philanthropy for over a decade, Maddie Frey started Frey Evaluation, LLC, a public health evaluation firm in 2018 to provide consulting services for organizational learning, evaluative thinking & tools, and movement toward systems change. Maddie’s previous work includes Cottage Health Hospital Director of Population Health Evaluation (Santa Barbara, CA), Healthcare Georgia Foundation’s Director of Evaluation (Atlanta, GA), Center for Community Health & Evaluation (Seattle, WA), and Georgia State University SPH Adjunct Faculty. Ms. Frey has an MPH from the University of Washington’s community-oriented public health practice program, and a BA in anthropology from Smith College. As an athlete and organizer, Maddie co-founded, led or coached the following organizations: Georgia Tech Wreck, Atlanta Women’s Ultimate, Atlanta Outbreak, Atlanta Soul, the Premier Ultimate League, and the Premier Ultimate League Foundation.

Iyanrick John serves as Vice President of External Affairs for ChangeLab Solutions. In this role, he is responsible for assisting with development and execution of the organization’s policy strategy, building and cultivating relationships with partners, and elevating the organization’s national profile. Prior to joining ChangeLab Solutions, Iyan served as a Senior Policy Strategist for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), where he assisted with policy and advocacy efforts to expand access to health care, improve health care quality, and further the collection and reporting of data for communities to address health inequities. He was also a lecturer at the California State University, East Bay Department of Public Health and worked as a Policy Analyst for the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities at the Maryland Department of Health. Iyan has an MPH in Epidemiology from Loma Linda University and a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law. ​ ​

Learning Objectives: By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Describe at least 2 tensions that study participants identified as needing to be voiced and acknowledged to strengthen advocacy.
• List the 6 opportunities to strengthen advocacy identified through the study and corresponding ideas about how to seize on those opportunities.
• Locate resources to improve communication and advocacy skills of public health and health-related workforces.

CERTIFICATE: The course contains two modules: a module to access the webinar and an evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.