How social movements can inform and inspire the work of population health improvement

The phrase “movement-building” and “we need a movement” arise frequently in gatherings on the topic of population health improvement, in recognition of the fact that healthier communities and healthier, longer lives for all will require collective and transformative action. After all, the public health field emerged in part from the history of the labor movement, and has been both beneficiary of or a partner to other movements over the years.

Frameworks, insights, and vocabulary drawn from both sociology and community organizing provide some of the tools needed to determine how social movements can inform individuals, groups, and organizations that strive to alter the social and environmental conditions that shape health in U.S. communities. A June 2013 workshop of the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Population Health Improvement provided these tools, along with several powerful perspectives from movement experts and movement leaders. The themes that arose from presentations and discussion included: the key ingredients of successful movements; essential distinctions or dichotomies (connect vs. direct); the challenge of movement-building in the absence of a well-defined antagonist and the available alternatives; the history of policies that have led to health inequities and the transformative power of movements in addressing inequity. Specific examples examined for their lessons and impact included: the Healthy Communities movement, the climate change and “green” movement(s), and the tobacco control movement.