Mechanisms for Advancing Public Health
There are novel and innovative ways that law and policy in different sectors can be used to advance health initiatives. Emerging public health issues like climate adaptation, social determinants of health, and childhood trauma call for new approaches and strategies that leverage law and policy in previously unexplored ways.
Resources
OSHA Proposed Rule Protecting Workers from Extreme Heat
The Role of Law in Defining Your Public Health Job
Introduction to the 2021-2022 Racial Equity Dataset: A Searchable Collection of Laws Related to Racial Equity
Racial Health Equity Information Session: Call for Applications for Network-Funded Law and Policy Assistance
Legality of Drug Checking Equipment in the United States
Protecting and Improving Local Public Health Authority to Advance Our Collective Health
Six Policies That Advance Mental Health
Texting to Promote Public Health: What Health Departments Should Know About the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
The State of State-level Public Health Advocacy
Racial Equity Interests and Needs Assessment
Medical Debt is a Public Health Crisis
Promoting Health Equity in Communities Affected by Mass Incarceration—Addressing Legal Obstacles to Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Individuals as Community Health Workers
Spotlight
Opportunity to Promote Public Health for Workers Exposed to Extreme Heat
Voting is Not Only Good for the Public’s Health but for Public Health, Too
Live Long and Prosper: A Public Health Salute to Strategic Planning for Healthy Aging
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A Closer Look at Mechanisms for Advancing Public Health
Increasingly, public health must look at legal and policy mechanisms in other sectors for opportunities that can support efforts to improve and promote health in communities. For example, tax incentives — in the form of tax credits, deductions or exemptions — can be used to support injury prevention measures; addressing climate and health requires examination of energy policy; and tackling mental health issues in school necessitates consideration of training requirements for teachers.
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