Oral

Law, policy and advocacy are tools that play important roles in protecting and improving the health of a community. The Commission to Build a Healthier America and Mobilizing Action Towards Community Health underscore how where you live, work, and play affects the health of minds, bodies, and communities. Law and policy shape how communities address the social determinants of health, including the options considered for action. Tobacco Policy Change serves as a framework for how communities can address upstream factors of health using a policy framework specific to tobacco control issues. This framework is especially useful for communities looking to implement the Commission's recommendations and act on the County Health Rankings. These three national initiatives, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, offer lessons for communities and agencies trying to improve their communities' health. The session will focus on the connections between these initiatives in addressing the multiple determinants of health and applying the lessons gleaned from Tobacco Policy Change to future legal, policy and advocacy efforts. This session will also demonstrate the ways that legal, policy and advocacy efforts create healthy minds, bodies, and communities and will explain resources available to communities and their leaders for making policy, advocacy, and systems changes.

Session Objectives: 1) List examples of policy and systems changes that have occurred as a result of advocacy efforts 2) Discuss the impact of social determinants of health on communities 3) Identify resources available to communities that are interested in making policy or systems changes

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)