Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113481

Kathryn J. Dolan, PhD and Carol Lee Hamilton, JD, MPA. Tarrant County Public Health, 1101 South Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76104, 817-321-5317, kjdolan@tarrantcounty.com

Public health professionals and associations in Texas are working with policy think tanks, academic partners and state legislators to develop a statewide network to impact public health policy in Texas. Significant contributions to this effort are the Texas Public Health Policy Forums, held biannually since 2000. The goal of these forums is to enhance the capacity for evidenced based decision making by evaluating and developing laws that impact public health. Created to give elected officials, public health agencies, and citizen advocacy groups an opportunity to discuss and debate issues, the forums provide timely public health policy recommendations to improve the health of Texans. Because the Texas legislature convenes biannually, the forums are held during the Legislature's intersession years to develop strategies and partnerships to address public health legislative and budgetary issues emerging for the next state legislative session. Infrastructure and preparedness are two significant issues addressed in previous policy forums that have led to enhanced state-local agency relations. The objectives of the forums are threefold: examine the vision and expectations of state and local elected officials for the public health system in Texas; actively engage elected officials, local health departments and state partners in developing organized, sustainable state-local policy networks to address issues impacting public health; and enhance the skills of public health professionals to build effective working relationships with Texas legislators and their staff on public health issues. This paper examines the goals, objectives, methods, results and lessons learned from this promising public health practice.

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