Oral

The 2007 Politics of Public Health Data session will focus on the newly-established Commission to Build a Healthier America, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative. The session will feature three 15-minute presentations and two brief commentaries. Background: The Foundation is launching a national initiative to examine America’s health divide - whom it affects personally and how it impacts us all. At its core will be a Commission that will raise awareness of social determinants that affect health and have contributed to the growing disparities in health among Americans. Commissioners will include prominent leaders and rising thinkers from diverse disciplines supported by a team of scientific researchers and experts across the country. The Commission will go to communities to hear first hand about the barriers and challenges to health that people face on a daily basis. Informing the work of the Commission will be evidence-based research that identifies gaps in health status and links between health and broader socioeconomic factors. Presentations will cover scientific research, external communications and the Foundation's rationale for leading the initiative. The two commentaries will address international perspectives on health equity and issues of the politics of public health data and social justice. All presentations will be solicited. No unsolicited abstracts will be reviewed. This session will be held at the American Public Health Association 135th Annual Meeting in Washington DC on Monday, November 5, 2007 in the 2:30 to 4:00 pm APHA time slot.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe the purpose of the new RWJF Commission to build a healthier America. 2. Articulate why a concern for a healthier America matters for everyone. 3. Recognize the complexity of the politics of data as they play out in research and evidence about the social determinants of health.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing