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

Abstract #115635

Katherine K. Kinsey, PhD, RN, FAAN, Nurse-Family Partnership of Philadelphia, National Nursing Centers Consortium, 18th Floor, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, 609-865-6275, kkinsey@nncc.us and Ilene Jacobs, JD, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Director of Ligitation, Advocacy, and Training, 511 D Street, P. O. Box 2600, Marysville, CA 91901.

Public health professionals, particularly public health nurses, work with many disenfranchised populations. The most marginalized include migrant workers, mentally ill community dwellers, substance abusers, homeless, families in shelters, inner city and rural poor, emigres and refugees, etc. These groups are frequently undercounted in any census because of frequent moves with no forwarding addresses; their suspicion of providing personal information to anyone; and, their lack of understanding about what census data can "do" for them. Public health workers, committed to social justice and improving the well being of the most marginalized, are uniquely positioned to design practical, community focused education and outreach regarding the decennial census, and implement strategies to engage disenfranchised people in the census gathering processes. An Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Commerce is actively planning the 2010 census. Planning is based on lessons learned in previous decades of census work; dialogue, debate and consensus building on how to be inclusive across all population groups; and, strategies to reduce geographic and environmental barriers. This presentation is the beginning of a series to educate public health professionals about the Decennial Advisory Committee's goals and responsibilities, and the emerging plan for 2010 census work and data analyses. Comparisons of 1990, 2000 data with projected 2010 data are critiqued. Shortfalls in the 2000 census are identified. Anticipated issues regarding the upcoming census are outlined. Emphasis is placed on the emerging opportunities for public health nurses and like minded professionals to participate in census design, implementation, and outcomes measures. A rural legal assistance attorney appointed to the Decennial Census Advisory Committee, and a seasoned public health nurse involved in services to marginalized low-income inner city women and children co-present. Each will highlight unique perspectives and experiences as well as the complementary nature of each other's work, and the collective potential (law and nursing) to shape the future of the 2010 census. The presentation underscores the viewpoint that it is never to early to plan.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participatn will be able to

• list three reasons why the 2010 census must reach marginalized populations
• identify two or more strategies to inform at-risk groups about the benefits of census data
• describe three or more opportunities for public health professionals to participate in the 2010 census

Keywords: Public Health Nursing, Public Health Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation