Health in All Policies: Learning Lessons from Emergency Legal Preparedness

The “health in all policies” (HiAP) approach recognizes that more than anything, social factors – such as where and how we live, learn, work, and play – determine health.  However, often, decisions that shape these social factors do not consider health impacts.  At its core, HiAP attempts to integrate health concerns into these decisions in integrated and systematic ways. 

Implementing HiAP remains a challenge as jurisdictions attempt to determine how to achieve long-lasting, cross-sector, collective action to improve health.  What relevant lessons can jurisdictions pursuing HiAP learn from emergency legal preparedness? 

This presentation will explore why preparing for public health emergencies and addressing the social factors that determine health present two parallel problems in public health.   Both present serious public health challenges that require concerted and deliberate government action. 

Then, this presentation will consider how law-based public health preparedness mechanisms can be useful in the HiAP context.  These mechanisms include: (1) centralized and mandated “all hazards” planning; (2) statutorily-created agencies for planning and coordination; (3) legally-mandated, agency-specific functions; (4) mutual aid agreements and memoranda of understanding; (5) mitigation requirements; and (6) incentives – or requirements – to encourage private parties to plan.   Through these parallels, this presentation will explore some possible “next steps” in advancing HiAP.