Finding the crossroads: A policy approach to reducing health disparities

This session is a case study of the Multnomah County Environmental Health Section's effort to promote community-level policy change that reduces childhood exposure to lead and environmental asthma triggers. A systems approach to Public Health policy change suggests that change often results from 1) a clearly defined health problem that is supported by data, 2) the active education and advocacy by a broad grassroots constituency, 3) the support of multiple stakeholders and power brokers, and 4) solutions that are proportionate to the health risks associated with the public health problem. Of these policy change components, the process of building a common language and framework are essential to action. Described in this session, will be the Healthy Homes Policy Summit, a one day facilitated event that brought together policy makers, community leaders and health and housing stakeholders. The purpose of the summit was to explore the crossroads between environmental justice, health disparities and the built community to create a common framework of public policy that would improve the health and safety of children living in the areas of greatest health disparities. Through presentation and facilitated discussion this session will a) overview the summit's socio-political context, b) describe the summit's process and outcomes, c) discuss the potential role that a focused policy summit might play in fostering policy chance and c) will explore how this strategy might be replicated, adopted or adapted by other jurisdictions.