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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Elizabeth Giese, RN, MSPH, Division of Public Health - Western Regional Office, 610 Gibson St, Suite 3, Eau Claire, WI 54701, 715-836-3830, gieseea@dhfs.state.wi.us, Joan M. Theurer, RN, BSN, MSN, Division of Public Health, 2187 N. Stevens Street, Suite C, Rhinelander, WI 54501, and Betty Bekemeier, RN, MPH, MSN, Health Services, University of Washington School of Public Health, Box 358852, Seattle, WA 98195.

Public health professionals are called to the ethic of social justice. In Wisconsin, our state health plan identifies an essential service of public health being the understanding and promotion of social and economic conditions that impact health (1). While we generally recognize the importance of this issue, operationalizing social justice at a local health department level is not well understood or assessed in Wisconsin. Current health department assessments focus on performance standards or compliance with state statutes and administrative rule, but do not include specific guidance on looking at social justice. After reviewing the literature, consulting with experts, and training local health department staff on the principles of social justice, a self-assessment tool was developed and piloted in the state to describe what a socially just health department would look like. This tool attempts to describe at an organizational level a socially just health department, including issues of quality of system partnerships, types of programs and services provided, population groups served, staff competency, staff diversity, and overall vision, mission, and values statements. The goal of this tool is to provide a practical method for determining if the tenets of social justice are being operationalized in a real while at the local level. While this is a beginning look at the issue of how a socially just health department may be described, it provides a tool for locals to use to reflect on their organizational structure, function and activities. Use of this tool may begin to provide data to determine what impacts can be expected within public health systems and/or community health status when assuring the implementation of a socially just health department.

1. Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. Healthiest Wisconsin 2010: A Partnership Plan to Improve the Health of the Public

Learning Objectives: