Building Health Promotion Into the National Agenda

PROGRESS REPORT

Efforts to Build Health Promotion into the national agenda are preceding well. Our attention is focused on ratifying our short term advocacy issues, developing specific advocacy plans for each of these issues and creating a steering committee to execute these plans.

For all of these efforts, we are consulting with a wide range of professional organizations, including the American Association of Health Plans, American College of Preventive Medicine, American School Health Association, Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine, Association for Worksite Health Promotion, International Health Racket and Sport Association, American Public Health Association and Wellness Councils of America, as well as advocacy groups including Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Center for the Advancement of Health, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Partnership for Prevention, and a number of foundations, government agencies, large employers and health promotion vendors.

As I reported earlier¹, we have selected two issues to advocate for in the short term: increased funding for health promotion research, and increased funding for dissemination of information on current research results and best practice strategies.

Our basic advocacy plan continues to consist of four main elements: coordinate with other organizations to leverage existing resources and create synergies; contact every member of the House of Representatives and Senate; create a grass-roots network and central coordinating team; and stage a conference to advance this effort.

The basic architecture for our Web page is in place, and we are developing links that will soon allow people to send a letter from the Web page directly to every U.S. senator and representative. We are also adding additional background information on the overall advocacy effort and background information on the health and financial impact of health promotion. Recommended content for letters advocating each of our issues will soon be posted on these Web pages. These can be viewed at http://www.HealthPromotionConference.org by clicking on the "National Agenda" button.

What Can You Do Now?

To get involved in this effort now, we recommend that you become familiar with your senators and representative. Call their offices to find out where they stand on health promotion. Most likely, they will know very little about health promotion. Use your existing knowledge to explain the health and financial benefits of health promotion and tell them you will be contacting them again to ask for their support of our efforts to increase funding for health promotion research and dissemination of information on health promotion. If you need supporting materials, you can get these from our Web site.

You can also make preparations to join us in Washington, D.C. for our February 12-16, 2000, Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference. The theme is "Building Health Promotion into the National Agenda" and the conference will include advocacy training and visits with senators and representatives on Capitol Hill (see Web page at http://HealthPromotionConference.org for details.)

Special Issue: Health Promotion and Older Adults

This issue of American Journal of Health Promotion is devoted to the topic of Health Promotion for Older Adults. There is increasing evidence that older adults do achieve significant benefits in quality and length of life when they exercise regularly, quit smoking, eat more nutritious foods and make other changes in their lifestyle behaviors. It is also very clear that few health promotion programs reach older adults, and that very few health promotion procedures are reimbursed by Medicare. Ironically, health promotion procedures were not even considered a viable treatment option for Medicare funding until recently, when the Health Care Finance Administration realized that Medicare might go bankrupt if the current pattern of medical utilization continues. Our long term plans to build health promotion into the national agenda will certainly have to include increases in health promotion programs for older adults.

1. O'Donnell, M.P, Building health promotion into the national agenda, American J of Health Promot 2000; 14:5.

Michael P. O'Donnell, PhD, MBA, MPH
Editor in Chief, American Journal of Health Promotion