Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111232

Robert W. Prentice, PhD, Public Health Institute, 180 Grand Ave. Suite 750, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-302-3321, bprentice@partnershipph.org

Although chronic disease accounts for roughly two-thirds of mortality in the United States and over 80% of the total burden of preventable disability and death, local public health departments are not characteristically well-prepared for chronic disease prevention. Even after 40 years of a campaign to reduce tobacco use--the leading cause of preventable mortality--tobacco control did not become a new framework for public health practice, but more typically resides as a distinct program area within a health promotion unit. On the verge of a similar movement to confront the health consequences of poor nutrition and lack of physical activity, this is an opportunity to examine not only the capacity of local public health departments to make meaningful contributions to that movement, but to construct a new framework for chronic disease prevention more generally. Drawing from a series of interviews with 31 senior public health officials from 21 local jurisdictions in California, this session will describe the range of capacities within local public health departments to engage in chronic disease prevention, with a particular emphasis on the social and environmental factors associated with chronic disease. This presentation will emphasize examples of capacity building and practice that hold the greatest promise for transforming the ability of local public health departments to engage in comprehensive chronic disease prevention efforts, and their potential for addressing the social and environmental factors that underlie health disparities.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Describe the discrepancy between the evidence about the burden of disease and the capacity of local public health departments to engage in comprehensive chronic disease prevention strategies;
• Describe the public health department infrastructure required for effective chronic disease prevention; and,
• Define the partnerships public health departments must develop to engage in effective chronic disease prevention campaigns.

Keywords: Chronic Diseases, Local Public Health Agencies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation