Oral

The launch of Healthy People 2020, the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities, and health care reform initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act provide multiple opportunities for epidemiologists to expand their role in improving the health of the public. The purpose of this session is to discuss how epidemiologists have addressed health and health care outcomes for racial, ethnic and underserved populations through science, service, and policy. In addition to providing an overview of the American College of Epidemiology’s ongoing review of the translation of epidemiologic evidence into policy, specific case examples will be discussed on childhood immunizations, disparities definition and measurement, housing interventions and asthma, food policy strategies, and breast cancer screening. To continue the dialogue of the 2011 APHA Future of Epidemiology session, panelists will address the role of epidemiologists in health services research and in improving health, what should be measured for policy and science, and crosscutting policy process lessons.

Session Objectives: Describe training challenges and opportunities for the translation of epidemiologic evidence into policy. Discuss childhood immunizations, lung cancer screening and health disparities as examples of epidemiologic evidence and policy impact. Explain the complexity of health disparities and the need for better training of epidemiologists to work in multidisciplinary teams to identify effective health equity interventions.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)