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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Benjamin Mason Meier, JD, LLM, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 100 Haven Ave., Apt. 30C, New York, NY 10032, 212-305-0047, bmm2102@columbia.edu, Kristine Gebbie, DrPH, RN, School of Nursing, Columbia University, 617 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, James Hodge, JD, LLM, Executive Director, Center for Law and the Public's Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, and Lawrence Gostin, JD, LLD, Director, Center for Law and the Public's Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Many public and private sector policymakers, scholars, and public health officials agree that state-based public health laws are ripe for reform. The Turning Point Model Public Health Act, completed in September 2003, provides a comprehensive template for states interested in public health law reform and modernization. This research examines the political and policy efforts undertaken by state actors to translate the Turning Point Act into legislation, assessing how the Turning Point Act affects public health laws, their reform, and subsequent changes in public health regulations, organizations, or programs.

Initial findings will be discussed from case studies in five states that have reformed their public health laws subsequent to the Turning Point Act. In each state, these case studies involve meetings with key informants, including public health officials, legislators or legislative staff, executive policy staff, and representatives of health-related advocacy or lobbying groups. Through semi-structured interviews, researchers are analyzing 1. the role of the informant in the legal/regulatory changes; 2. the public health problems addressed by the changes; 3. obstacles to changes in state law and the strategies used to overcome these obstacles; 4. subsequent changes in public health regulation, organization or programs based on legal reforms; and 5. the expected changes in public health outcomes. Through this research, it is anticipated that approaches more likely to support passage of public health law modernization efforts will be identified. These approaches may inform policy-makers and public health officials on how to frame future public health law reforms.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Identify the major subject matter and underlying assumptions of the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act (Turning Point Act);
• Assess how the Turning Point Act is currently being used by state and local law- and policy-makers in legislative and regulatory reform initiatives;
• Describe the impact of the Turning Point Act as a means to promote public health through legal reforms at the state and local levels.
• Apply lessons learned from the Turning Point Act experience to state legislative reform efforts.

Keywords: Policy/Policy Development, Public Health Legislation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation