Public Health Champions:Increasing Legislative Impact with Limited Resources

As a volunteer organization with part time administrative support, NH Public Health Association constantly looks for ways to leverage our limited resources for more visibility and impact. Our Public Health Champions program stretches our capacity to influence public health policy in our state legislature. Each year we identify three or four bills with significant public health implications on which there was a roll call vote in NH’s House. Representatives who voted in line with good public health policy are named “Public Health Champions”. They are given a lapel pin and encouraged to wear it and talk to their colleagues about public health. They are given a cue card with important public health messaging to help them articulate what public health is. We send a Letter to the Editor of their local paper (if they so desire) celebrating their work. And annually we hold a luncheon to thank them and to gain ideas for other ways we can assist them in their work. The number of Champions has grown every year since we established the program in 2011. We have gained new perspectives on the needs of Representatives and have found new ways to meet some of those needs. And we have become a recognized source of solid science-base information on public health issues. The poster will detail the legislation used to select Champions, the growth of the program, and materials developed for our Champions. We believe our Public Health Champions program can serve as a model for other APHA Affiliates.