142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

311698
A model for Health in All Policies: Health impact reviews of Washington state legislation

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Sierra Rotakhina, MPH , Washington State Board of Health, Tumwater, WA
Addressing health disparities and developing approaches to ensure Health in All Policies are gaining momentum in the United States. The Washington State Legislature has officially recognized the importance of both working to eliminate health disparities and analyzing policies for their impact on health. Washington state passed legislation in 2006 that created the Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities and gave the State Board of Health (SBOH) the authority, in collaboration with the Council, to conduct health impact reviews (HIR). An HIR is an analysis, informed by the scientific literature, of how a state legislative or budgetary proposal will likely impact health and health disparities. Only the Governor or a state legislator can request a review. Legislators and the Governor’s Office have requested HIRs of proposals from a variety of topic areas including education, health care, and social services. In addition, SBOH staff have engaged the legislature to inform decision-makers that proposals that affect where we live, learn, work, and play also impact health and are therefore good candidates for an HIR request. This presentation will provide an outline of Washington state’s model HIR framework and will cover outreach approaches that have been effective in mobilizing Washington state legislators and the Governor’s Office to request HIRs. Lastly, this presentation will provide the audience with a springboard to discuss how state, county, or local governments and other organizations can make strides towards Health in All Policies by adapting and implementing Washington state’s health impact review model.

Learning Areas:

Communication and informatics
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss how state, county, or local governments and other organizations can make strides towards Health in All Policies by adapting and implementing Washington state’s health impact review model. Explain the definition, goals, and model framework of Washington state’s health impact reviews. Describe outreach approaches that have been effective in mobilizing Washington state legislators and the Governor’s Office to request health impact reviews of their sponsored legislative or budgetary proposals. Identify policies that have strong potential to impact health and health disparities and would make good candidates for a health impact review—such as legislation on housing, education, transportation, or workforce development. Describe the history of Washington state legislation that convened the Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities and granted the State Board of Health, in collaboration with the Governor’s Council, the authority to conduct health impact reviews.

Keyword(s): Policy/Policy Development, Health Disparities/Inequities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Health Policy Analyst for the Washington State Board of Health and the Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities. I assisted in developing the health impact review procedures and am the primary Policy Analyst who conducts these reviews. In addition, I am part of the outreach team that works with state legislators to promote this tool and present the findings of health impact reviews.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.