2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Online Program

329947
Healthy People 2020 Law and Health Policy Project: A Preview of Report Findings About the Impact of Legal and Policy Strategies on Nutrition and Weight Status Goals


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Jean O'Connor, JD, MPH, DrPH, Chronic Disease Prevention Section, Georgia Department of Public Health, Atlanta, GA
Pat Crawford, DrPH, RD, UC Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, ANR, Berkeley, CA
Manel Kappagoda, JD, MPH, ChangeLab Solutions, Oakland, CA
Angela McGowan, JD, MPH, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDC Assignee), Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Laws and policies are important drivers of health. As health officials tackle the complex, multi-sectorial problems that affect the health in their communities, it is critical that they have access to a portfolio of evidence-based interventions to support policy implementation or change.- To help build these resources and show the value of legal and policy interventions as effective tools in improving health, the Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) Law and Health Policy project will produce 10-15 reports focusing on specific HP2020 topic areas and objectives and demonstrate the impact that laws and policies can have on improving the health of the nation.

This presentation will describe the process the HP2020 Law and Health Policy Project uses to create reports that demonstrate the value of evidence-based legal and policy approaches in protecting and improving health, and preview the findings from a pilot report focused on the topic of Nutrition and Weight Status. The focus of the report is improving fruit and vegetable consumption in the diets of the population aged two years and older. The presentation will explain the legal methodology and resources used to analyze laws and policies across jurisdictions and tie them to the HP2020 data.  Specific examples of both communities and legal approaches that are being implemented will also be provided and will provide the audience with an understanding of how the project translates health and legal data into evidence-based interventions and strategies that impact public health practice and achieve specific nutrition and weight status health objectives.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Explain how legal and policy surveillance information can be used in conjunction with health surveillance data to create an evidence base for effective public health interventions. Describe the use of law and policy to address health factors related to HP2020, in this case, nutrition and weight status, and the Healthy People 2020 Law Reports.

Keyword(s): Healthy People 2020, Law

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have nearly 20 years of experience in public health law and policy, as well as a JD, MPH and a Doctor of Public Health degree. As the Chronic Disease Prevention Director for the Georgia Department of Public Health, I serve as the Principal Investigator on physical activity, nutrition and weight status law and policy grants and cooperative agreements. And, I am a member of the State Bar of Georgia.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
CDC Chronic Disease Prevention Federal funder for state-based work related to the topic.
Emory University Public Health Law and Policy Speaker's bureau and teaching engagements

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4049.0: Using Law and Policy to Meet Healthy People 2020 Goals and Objectives